


Running Up That Hill

by pleasanthell



Category: Lost Girl
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-07
Updated: 2013-09-24
Packaged: 2017-12-22 18:25:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 39,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/916533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleasanthell/pseuds/pleasanthell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bo watched her entire body tensed up, sweat dripping out of her every pore. Slowly her muscles released and her hands went limp. Her eyes slid closed. </p><p>Bo stood up and quickly walked over to the couch. She picked up him by his neck and asked, “What did you do?” When he started to stutter, Bo yelled, tears in her eyes, “What did you do!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Thanks for letting me hang out here and watch tv,” Kenzi called from the couch in Lauren’s apartment. “The construction guys I yelled at from the window told me they cut the cables underground while they were replacing the sewer, side note I may need to shower here, and it won’t be up and running until next week.”

Lauren looked up from her microscope with an amused smirk, “You’re welcome to take a shower whenever you need it.” She makes a quick note and adds, “There’s food in the kitchen too.”

“And, um, if I had a friend come over…” Kenzi pushed up on her elbows and looked at Lauren over the back of the couch.

Lauren didn’t look up from the microscope because she didn’t want to give up the pained expression on her face. “Bo is welcome here anytime.”

“I have other friends,” Kenzi feigned offense and flops back on the couch.

Lauren sat down on her stool and picked up a pen, “Hale and Dyson know they’re welcome here. They dropped by yesterday.”

Kenzi sat up quickly, “I thought you weren’t working for the light Fae anymore.”

“I’m not,” Lauren didn’t look up from her work, “But I’m the only doctor they could come to and they’re my friends.”

Kenzi bit her lip. She remembered Bo telling her about a fight that happened yesterday with some underfae. Bo came back bruised and she didn’t see Hale or Dyson. Kenzi wanted to say something. She wanted to tell her that Bo practically pushed her out the door when she told Bo the cable was out. Kenzi knew that Bo is dying to know how Lauren was, but was scared that Lauren didn’t want to see her. She didn’t know what to say so she laid back on the couch.

She picked up her phone to call Bo over and talk this over like a grown up when there’s a knock on the door. Kenzi rolled off of the couch and stands, “I got it.”

“Thank you,” Lauren added as she picks up a clipboard and turned to her computer.

Kenzi opened the door with a careless heave. Before she could see who it was, her arm was yanked so that she was spun around. She yelped as a knife is pressed to her throat and she was pushed inside.

“Where’s the doctor?” a man’s voice asked.

Lauren stood up abruptly, sending her chair clattering to the ground. She spotted the man with the knife to Kenzi’s neck and a woman walking in behind him. She closed the door and looked directly at Lauren. “Dr. Lewis?”

Lauren quickly nodded, worried about what would happen to Kenzi if she didn’t answer promptly. “Yes.”

“We need your help,” the woman stated and with a flip of her wrist, locked the door.

Once both Lauren’s and Kenzi’s phones were taken away, they were seated on the couch. The man and woman stood in front of them. The woman looked right at Lauren and stated evenly, “We need you to make him a fae.”

“What?” Lauren blinked, “I can’t do that.”

“We hacked into your computer,” the man said and ruffled his shaggy hair, “You’re working on it.”

Lauren shook her head, “I have been, but I haven’t tested it. It’s not proven. It’s just a theory.”

“It doesn’t matter,” the man looked at Lauren.

“Why do you need to be a Fae?” Kenzi asked shrugging off the man’s hold and taking a step away from him, “Is this a destroy the world kind of thing?”

The woman shook her head and crossed her arms, “You never think about the mortality of your partner when you’re a fae.” She turned to the man, “That is until you fall in love with a human.”

He tucked some hair behind her ear and added, “A human who is dying.”

She turned to Lauren, “You have to turn him into a Fae.”

Lauren swallowed, “I understand your problem, I do, but I can’t.”

The woman’s eyes turned from pleading to dangerous. She walked right up to Lauren and wrapped her fingers around Lauren’s slender neck. Her eyes held Lauren’s and turned a deep blue. Lauren gasped, but felt like she was drowning. She felt the water filling up her body and the air unable to penetrate the water to get to her lungs. Just as Lauren was about to pass out, the woman dropped her on the couch.

Lauren gasped deeply, grasping at her throat and falling sideways next to Kenzi who put protective arms around her. After she gulped a few lungfuls of air, she looked up at the woman, “You’re a kelpie.”

The woman nodded and looked around. She shook off a glistening hand and picked up a blanket that was on an armchair to dry her dripping wet hair. “C’mon, Dr. Lewis.” She jerked her head toward the small lab in the back. “Let’s get the injection ready.”

Kenzi smiled tensely at the man, “Hi, I’m Kenzi. I’m an orphan and I am owned by a succubus.”

“Are you trying to humanize yourself so that I won’t kill you?” he asked.

Kenzi clapped her hands together, “Basically.”

“I don’t know what you want me to do,” Lauren shook her head, “I don’t even know if this would work.”

“Yes you do,” the Kelpie shook her head, “I heard at the Dal that you turned a human into a Cabbit. However, if you turn Derek into a Cabbit, I’ll actually drown you and your friend.”

“I don’t have any Fae stem cells here,” Lauren picked up her stool and sat down on it, “Or an operating room.”

The Kelpie pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and looked at it. “Hmmm,” she looked around the lab. She opened all the drawers of Lauren’s desk and then moved to the cabinets. After she sorted through some vials, she went to the small refrigerator. When she saw the contents she grinned. “Well, well, well,” the Kelpie picked up a tray of small vials. She turned around, “I do believe this is Fae bone marrow. Get the stem cells and inject them into my boyfriend.”

“I – I don’t know what kind of Fae,” Lauren stuttered, “And the operating part is-”

The woman held up her hand shutting Lauren up. The Kelpie consulted the crumpled page in her hand and nodded, “Finally Dr. Lewis is telling the truth. And I really don’t care. The Fae that you’ve narrowed it down to are perfectly acceptable. Get to work or I’ll drown your friend.” The woman dropped the page on Lauren’s desk in front of her. “We have print outs of your research. We know what you know.” She patted Lauren’s back, “Get to work.”

Lauren didn’t see any other option. She sighed and got to work.

Kenzi closed her eyes and tried to summon Bo with some imaginary power that she wished she had. Derek looked at her questioningly, “What are you doing?”

Kenzi’s eyes flew open, “What?”

“You were mumbling to yourself,” he stated, sitting down on the couch next to her.

“Relaxation techniques,” Kenzi eyed the knife in the man’s hand. Then she looked over the back of the couch at the Kelpie hovering behind Lauren, watching her every move. “This blows.”

“Look, it’s just important okay?” Derek offered, trying to smooth things over.

Kenzi shook her head, “It’s not that. I mean, this does suck, but it’s not my first rodeo at knifepoint. My best friend is Fae and I’m just – human. I’m going to die in like eighty years and she’ll still be young and hot with like a thousand years in front of her.”

“I thought you were owned by a fae,” Derek offered.

Kenzi shrugged, “That’s what we have to say so that I can go with her to all the Fae places, but we’re partners. Best friends through thick and thin.” She looked behind the couch, “Can I grab something to eat? Lauren can go at that science stuff for hours.”

“I’ll go with you,” Derek readjusted his grip on the knife and stood with Kenzi.

“Whoa,” the Kelpie stopped Lauren from getting a dropper of clear liquid, “What are you doing with that?”

“It’s a molecular bonding agent,” Lauren tried to explain.

“It’s potassium chloride,” the Kelpie shook her head, “I used to live next door to Dmitri Mendeleev. I know what you’re trying to do. And the next time you try to pull something like that, you’ll be short one short goth friend. Got it?”

Lauren nodded slowly, “Yes. Got it.” She went back to work, trying to figure out how she was going to get out of the mess they were in.

“Gross. All she has is health food,” Kenzi made grossed out faces as she sifted through the food in Lauren’s kitchen. Kenzi continued to mumble to herself about whole wheat when she came across some wine. “Ooh, that’s for me.” She said, setting the bottle of wine on the counter and then turning back to her expedition.

“Why aren’t you more scared?” Derek asked Kenzi as he watched her take a bite out of basically everything she laid her hand on.

Kenzi spoke with a full mouth, “My best friend is one of most powerful Faes in existence. I get held hostage like twice a month.” She licked her fingers and then offered a bowl to Derek, “I think these are pumpkin muffins. Lauren must have been upset recently.”

Of course while she was nibbling on her pumpkin muffin, Kenzi kept eyeing the cell phones on the counter. She knew that Lauren probably wouldn’t be able to get them out of whatever was going on, but if she could get to her phone, Kenzi could text Bo.

Kenzi fumbled with a soda and dropped it on the floor. She had purposely unscrewed the lid enough so that it would pop off and spray everywhere. It coated the bottom of Derek’s pants and managed to get all over the front of Kenzi. “Shit,” Kenzi wiped the soda off of her face as the spray had died down. She looked at Derek, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. There’s got to be towels in here somewhere.”

Kenzi started moving around the kitchen, opening drawers, feigning her search for kitchen towels, all the while keeping her focus on swiping her phone. She finally made the hop to the opposite side of the kitchen. She opened a drawer and grabbed her phone with her back to Derek.

“It’s okay. I found some paper towels,” Derek told Kenzi.

Kenzi slipped her phone in her back pocket as she whirled around. “I don’t use paper products. I actually love the environment!” Kenzi noticed that Derek was shaken up from her beratement so she indignantly took off her jacket, “I’m going to go change.”

She heard Derek following her up the stairs so she b-lined for Lauren’s room. Derek stopped in the doorway and watched Kenzi step into the closet.  “Do you want some different pants?” Kenzi asked, checking to see if Derek was looking. When she saw him walk past the closet, she whipped out her phone.

“Does Dr. Lewis have a boyfriend?” Derek frowned, looking at her pictures in the bedroom. He wasn’t seeing a single man in any of the pictures.

“No,” Kenzi shook her head, “Of course not.” She paused her text writing trying to remember if she actually had heard Lauren was ever with a man.

“Hey! What are you doing!” Derek yelled in the doorway of the closet.

“Shit,” Kenzi squealed and pressed send even though her text wasn’t finished. Derek yanked the phone from her hand and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the closet.

“Alison!” Derek yelled as he ran down the stairs. “Ally! The girl sent a text message.”

“Damn it,” Alison stood up from the stool next to Lauren and grabbed Lauren’s arm pulling her out of the way, “Time’s up doctor.”

“What?” Lauren asked, “I’m not done. It’s not stable yet.”

Alison dug through the drawers and pulled out two syringes. She opened one of the syringes and picked up one of the vials that Lauren was working on. She filled up the syringe and made sure there were no air bubbles.

“Why do you have two syringes?” Lauren asked, fearing that she knew why.

“Let me ask you something, Dr. Lewis,” Alison looked at the syringe in her hand and then at Lauren, “Have you ever been a guinea pig?”

Lauren shook her head, her eyes growing wide, “I didn’t have enough time. You can’t –“

“It’s you or the girl,” Alison stated evenly, coldly.

Lauren looked at Kenzi and the terror in her eyes. This wasn’t really a monster that Kenzi could fight off, especially when Derek had a hold of both of her arms. Kenzi caught Lauren’s eyes and her brave front had fallen.

Lauren set her jaw, “Fine.” She shrugged off her lab coat.

Kenzi looked at the door and murmured, “C’mon, Bo-Bo.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Lay down,” Alison shifted her weight from one foot to the other, like she was getting uncomfortable.

Lauren knew that this syringe had to make in into her bones before it would work, so it was going to hurt very badly. Her only solace was that if it didn’t work, it was just outright kill her. She slowly unbuttoned her shirt, knowing that since Kenzi sent a text, it was probably only a matter of time before Bo came bursting through the door. As she finished unbuttoning her shirt, she shrugged it off and dropped it on the back of the couch.

“Hurry up,” Alison ordered and pushed Lauren toward chaise by the window.

Lauren resigned herself to either becoming Fae, some weird abnormality, or dying. She took a deep breath and walked to the chaise, laying down on it.

Kenzi struggled against Derek, “Stop! No! Lauren don’t do it!”

Lauren looked over at Kenzi and shook her head. She was going to do it and she was going to do it quietly and dignified. Lauren took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Alison raised the syringe, ready to stab it through Lauren’s bones. Kenzi tried one last desperate plea, “Please don’t do it! Alison stop! She didn’t do anything to you!”

Alison readjusted the syringe in her hand and swallowed. She was wavering.

Derek threw Kenzi back onto the couch and marched over to Alison. He yanked the syringe away and in one swift movement, stabbed it into Lauren’s collarbone. Lauren screamed in pain as it penetrated her bone and grasped Derek’s wrist as he pushed in the plunger.

When he pulled the syringe out, the door flew open, breaking at the seam. Bo stepped in and looked around. She immediately spotted Kenzi laying haphazardly on the couch with tears in her eyes. “Lauren.” She pointed to the corner where Derek and Alison were standing over a writhing and whimpering Lauren.

“Lauren!” Bo yelled and ran over to the two standing over her. She picked them both up by their shirts, her eyes glowing blue. She threw them away from Lauren and knelt down next to her.

“Bo,” Lauren choked out.

Bo’s eyes faded back to normal when she looked at Lauren, “What happened? What did they do to you?”

Lauren felt herself getting weak. She closed her eyes and slowly opened them, “I’m not-” She swallowed with great difficulty, “I love you. I always loved you.”

“I love you too,” Bo managed to say back with tears in her eyes, “Nothing is going to happen to you. We can fix this.”

Lauren winced and squirmed, “I don’t know, Bo. This is –” Suddenly her entire body tensed up, sweat dripping out of her every pore. Slowly her muscles released and her hands went limp. Her eyes slid closed.

Bo picked up Lauren’s hand, “No, no, no, no,” Bo sat on the chaise next to Lauren and pulled her up into her arms. “No. Lauren. You can’t leave me.”

Across the room, Derek and Alison were getting up. They looked back at Bo and Lauren as they scrambled to the door. However when Derek turned around to make his way out, there was a small woman with a fire poker in her hand. Kenzi narrowed her eyes, “Sit down.”

Alison and Derek went to the couch and sat down. Bo finally stood up and quickly walked over to the couch. She picked up Derek by his neck and asked, “What did you do?” When he started to stutter, Bo yelled, “What did you do!”

“He doesn’t know. Ask the girl,” Kenzi stated, angrily.

Bo opened her mouth and the chi started to flow out of Derek, into her mouth. After he was unconscious, she threw him on the couch. Then she turned to Alison, “Your turn.”

Alison looked terrified and scrambled into the corner of the couch. “Please, no. I can’t I was just trying to – I can’t live without him.”

Bo opened her mouth when Kenzi interrupted, “Bo!” Lauren looked at Kenzi and then followed Kenzi’s eyes. She saw Lauren on the chaise. Lauren was starting to glow a bright orange. Bo just started, watching Lauren glow brighter and brighter until she was a bright white.

“What’s happening?” Kenzi asked, quietly, but knowing Bo had no idea as well.

Suddenly flames erupted from Lauren. Her entire body was on fire. A slim, faceless figure with wings of fire rose up, over Lauren. It seemed to look at Bo and Kenzi, tilting its head to the side before moving into the air, making a huge fiery arc, to dive back into Lauren. The flames died down and Lauren was laying on the charred chaise, naked with remnants of charred clothes falling off of her.

Bo started walking slowly over to Lauren’s body. When Lauren gasped, Bo jumped back, startled. Lauren’s eyes flew open and she sat up. Bo dropped to her knees next to Lauren and threw her arms around the blonde. “Oh my god. I thought you were dead.”

Lauren held onto Bo and closed her eyes, tears escaping from beneath her lashes, “I think I was.”

Kenzi walked up behind Bo and touched Lauren’s head. Lauren looked up at Kenzi and smiled, “Are you okay?”

Kenzi nodded, “Thanks.” She swallowed, “I guess you’re a phoenix now.” She glanced behind her, “And they’re both gone.”

Lauren was really trying to come to terms with a procedure that she was sure would not work. A second later she realized she was naked. Kenzi grabbed a throw and handed it to Lauren to wrap around herself. Lauren looked at Bo who was studying her. Neither one really knew what to say. They just looked at each other, into each other’s eyes to try to figure out what to do next.

“I didn’t think it would work that fast,” Lauren finally spoke. She got the crazy look in her eyes that she usually did when talking about science. She stood up and walked over to her home lab. She tucked the throw into itself to make a sort of sarong before sitting down on her stool.

“Lauren, what are you doing?” Bo asked, walking over to Lauren and leaning on the desk next to her. “You just – You just died and we just watched you come back to life. Don’t you…wanna talk about it?”

Lauren stopped what she was doing and closed her eyes. “I just need to get this sample before I start processing. I don’t know how I feel right now. There are a lot of things that could happen or could go wrong. I need to just get this sample.” She opened her eyes and looked up at Bo, “Will you stay?”

Bo nodded, “Of course.” She looked around and pulled out her phone, “I’m going to call Trick and let him know what’s going on. See if he can help.”

Lauren nodded, “Thank you.”

Bo moved to the couch but leaned against the back of it so that she could keep an eye on Lauren. She took her time explaining everything that happened to Trick with some added details from Kenzi who was sprawled on the couch.

“Where is she now?” Trick asked.

“We’re with her,” Bo stated. “I’m not leaving her. Not after what happened. Those people may still be after her.”

Trick hummed, “You’re right. Bring her to the Dal as soon as you can.”

Bo’s eyes landed on Lauren who was sitting at the desk, staring really hard at her left arm. She looked down at the forearm more closely then pulled away. Lauren then picked up a scalpel. She opened it and then rested her arm on the table. When Bo saw the first cut Lauren made into her own arm, she ran over to Lauren, scared that she was possessed or something.

But when she got to Lauren, she saw what Lauren was fascinated with. The cut healed in front of her eyes leaving no scar, just a small trail of blood that managed to escape before the wound could heal itself.

Kenzi hopped over and looked at Lauren’s arm, “What was that?”

“It seems that I have taken on all characteristics of a phoenix,” Lauren stated, looking up at Bo, “My healing capacity is now higher that than any other Fae I know of.” She looked under the microscope for a moment before sitting back, “The Fae cells are now reproducing. I am…a Fae. Or at least most of one.”

“Should I go get your welcome basket?” Bo asked with a smile.

Lauren just swallowed, “I don’t-” She stood up, “I don’t know what I feel. I feel strange. And I’m, I’m scared.”

Bo slipped her arms around Lauren’s waist and held her close, “It’s okay. It’s all strange and new, but I am here for you. One hundred percent anytime you need me.”

Lauren’s voice started to crack, “I need you now.”

Bo nodded against Lauren’s shoulder, “Of course. Do you wanna go upstairs?” Lauren nodded and pulled away. As she took a step back, Bo took her hand. “How about a bath?”

Lauren nodded again, “I still feel ashes on me.”

Kenzi stayed downstairs to keep watch, both on the door and the TV. Bo started Lauren a bath while Lauren picked out some clothes. She took a t-shirt and some sweatpants down to Kenzi before she got into her bath.

Before Lauren went back upstairs, Kenzi stopped her, “Hey um, thanks for what you did. I know it was dangerous and you didn’t know what would happen. You kept them from using it on me.”

“Of course,” Lauren nodded, “That’s what friends do.”

Kenzi smiled an uneasy smile, and hugged Lauren, “I’m glad we’re friends.”

When Lauren got to her bathroom, she found Bo sitting on the side of the tub, turning off the faucet. Lauren dropped the throw onto the floor without skipping a beat. She was too shaken up to care about being naked in front of someone else.

She slowly lowered herself into the steaming water with Bo’s sharp eyes on her. Lauren settled back into the tub and let her muscles relax. “That feels good.”

Bo moved herself down to the floor so that she could be eye level with Lauren. “Are you okay? Do you feel okay? Physically?”

Lauren lulled her head to the side to look at Bo, “I feel tingly. And warm.”

“That makes sense. You were just on fire,” Bo leaned on the tub wall.

Lauren inhaled slowly and then exhaled heavily, “What happens now?”

“What do you mean?” Bo rested her elbow on the top of the tub wall and then pressed her cheek to her closed fist.

“If I’m Fae now, I can’t be _owned_ ,” Lauren blinked and shook her head like the word alone was unbelievable.

Bo nodded, “And you have to choose to be dark Fae or light Fae.”

Lauren cracked a small smile, “The unaligned thing is working so well for you I might have to try it out.”

Bo smiled widely, “You and me, the only two unaligned Fae in the world.”

Lauren’s smiled faded. She licked her lips, “But what if the Fae inside me dies. Assuming that I don’t die and just become human again, will the light Fae try to own me again?” She shook her head, the tips of her hair tracing the top of the water, “I can’t do that again.”

“No one owns you,” Bo reached into the bathtub and found Lauren’s hand floating by her side. “You can be the unowned doctor for Team Unaligned Fae.”

Lauren smiled fully. “Thank you, Bo.” She tilted her head toward Bo, “Thank you for coming. And for staying.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Bo shook her head. “I’m just sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”

Lauren took a deep breath. “It’s okay. I just need to recover from this and then I’ll figure out what’s happening inside of me.”

Bo slowly let go of Lauren’s hand and stood up. She turned to the bathroom cabinet and picked up a washcloth. When she returned to the bathtub she sat on the edge, “Thank you for what you did for Kenzi.”

Lauren graciously nodded her head. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”

Bo handed Lauren the washcloth and watched Lauren clean herself in silence. When Lauren was done, she looked around for a towel nearby. Bo got up and got one, handing it over. Lauren took it was a thankful smile and stood up, letting Bo wrap it around her.

“Bo,” Lauren said when Bo started to walk away. Bo stopped and looked at her. Lauren’s eyes filled with tears and she swallowed hard, “I died.”

“I know,” Bo nodded. She reached forward and pressed her hand against Lauren’s cheek. She let her hand slide down Lauren’s jawbone and then let it rest on her neck. “I was so scared.” She pulled Lauren against her again, this time holding her tight. She had been holding it together for Lauren, but seeing Lauren crack wasn’t helping her keep it together. Lauren sniffled and Bo blinked away tears. Bo managed to swallow enough emotion to choke out, “I love you, Lauren.”

“I love you too,” Lauren answered. “So much.” She buried her face in Bo’s neck.

Bo pulled away and looked at Lauren. When she saw a tear making its way down Lauren’s face, she gently wiped it away.  Lauren’s eyes fell to Bo’s lips. Bo saw this and licked them. She opened her mouth to add something, but was trapped in an ethereal haze.

Lauren’s body overrode her senses and she took the plunge, surging forward to capture Bo’s lips. Bo’s hands moved to Lauren’s hips and gripped them tightly. She pulled Lauren flush against her. She’d been waiting for this kiss for months. She wasn’t going to let it slip away without taking the chance to completely immerse herself in it.

As she kissed Lauren, Bo felt something overtake it. It was fast and hot. It traveled through her mouth and through her chest, bursting into her limbs. It stung, but it also pulled Bo in. She delved deeper into the kiss, pushing her tongue into Lauren’s mouth and pushing the blonde back until she fell back onto the bed. She pulled off Lauren’s towel and Lauren bowed her body so that Bo could whip it out from under her and away from the bed.

Lauren rolled Bo onto her back and sat up, straddling Bo’s waist. She pulled Bo up and powerfully yanked off her shirt and bra all in one motion. She pushed Bo back down and before Bo knew what was going on, she was completely naked under Lauren.

Bo was used to taking the lead, but when she went to roll Lauren over, she found herself over powered. She smiled as she pulled Lauren down and kissed her again.

The sex was raucous. Kenzi had to turn the TV up really loud and find a movie on TV with enough explosions to drown out Bo and Lauren. Just as Bo was about to spill over the edge into a heavenly oblivion, she looked up at Lauren who was still hovering over her. She was surprised to see fiery wings erupt from Lauren’s back, flaring out into a great span before folding back into her as they both came together, one last time.

Bo had never felt stronger. She ran her hands up and down Lauren’s sides and slipped them down her back. She only felt the smooth skin, she’d come to know on Lauren’s back. It wasn’t on fire or even warmer than normal. She blinked and figured that she may have imagined it. It had been a long, traumatic day.

Kenzi walked into the room with her hand over her eyes and Bo’s ringing phone in her hand, “I’m sorry to interrupt if you’re not-uh-done, but Trick has called you like ten times.”

“We’re done,” Lauren stood from the bed and picked up a sheet to wrap herself with, “I’m going to get dressed.”

Bo frowned and watched as Lauren shut herself in the bathroom. Kenzi peeked through her fingers and saw Bo with a blanket over herself. She hopped over to the bed as the phone stopped ringing and sat down, “Sorry, Bo-Bo.”

“It’s okay,” Bo answered and took the phone. She pressed the green button and answered, “Yeah?” After assuring Trick that she was okay and that they were on their way, she hung up.

“So?” Kenzi asked.

“He was just checking to see where we were, just in case there was some weird power that Lauren couldn’t control,” Bo reached over the edge of the bed and picked up her pants.

Kenzi shook her head and glanced at the bathroom door, “That’s not what I meant. Are you back with Lauren?”

Bo shrugged, “I don’t know. We just kissed and then…did more than kiss. We didn’t talk about it.” She wanted to know what this meant, but she guessed that it was asking a lot of Lauren to have a long drawn out talk about their relationship when her entire existence was changing right down to her DNA.


	3. Chapter 3

When they walked into the Dal, they found Dyson, Hale, Tamsin, and Trick waiting for them. It was obvious the men were actually waiting for them while Tamsin was just around. Dyson was sitting on a stool and Hale was leaning against the bar. Trick was standing behind the bar. As they walked in, Dyson sniffed the air, then shook his head when a burning sensation filled his nose.

“What’s going on?” Bo asked, figuring that some new kind of baddie had emerged and they needed to go.

“They’re here because of the new Fae in town,” Tamsin eyed Lauren, then picked up her beer bottle, holding it up in the air with a half-curtsey, “I’m just here day drinking.” She took a long swig of her beer before walking over to the pool table.

“I don’t even know if this is permanent,” Lauren shook her head, before anyone could say anything.

Trick shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. For now, you’re a Fae and you have to live by the Fae rules.”

Lauren frowned, “I’ve been living under the Fae rules for years. I know the rules better than most Fae.” She shook her head, “The Light Fae can’t own me anymore.”

Trick nodded, “You’re right. But while you are a Fae, either just now or forever, you have to do what all Fae do.”

“You mean pick a side?” Lauren raised her eyebrows.

“I know your experience with the Light Fae hasn’t been all great,” Hale stepped in. He felt that Trick was going about this entire situation the wrong way. He felt the need to step in and smooth things over.

Lauren shook her head, “So you brought me here to tell me that the Dark Fae are the bad guys. That, although, I’ve been enslaved by the Light Fae for years, I will now be treated as an equal. Everyone will forget that I was just here to be your science geek monkey and now I will be appreciated as one of your own?” Lauren shook her head again, this time to clear her thoughts, “Good try, but it’s going to take more than an almost heartfelt apology to get me to pledge me allegiance to the Light.”

“But you’re not going to pledge to the Dark?” Dyson asked, shifting on his stool.

Lauren wanted to tell him that she didn’t see a reason why she shouldn’t. She wanted to tell him that she could very easily walk up to The Morrigan and tell her every secret that the Light Fae harbored. She could tell her the spies that they have deep in the Dark Fae’s ranks or even turn over her research that helped her turn herself into a Fae. But she wouldn’t.

Lauren looked at Bo. She knew that hurting the Light Fae meant hurting Bo and that is something she would never do. Lauren shook her head, “Your secrets are safe with me.”

“For now,” Tamsin snorted from the pool table as she racked the balls.

Everyone looked at her and she looked up. She quirked an eyebrow, “The first time one of you treats her like some kind of half-breed Fae-human mutt, she could run off to the Morrigan with all of your dirty laundry.” Tamsin picked up her cue and walked to the front of the table, “It’s kind of poetic really.” She aimed at the cue ball and made her first shot.

Kenzi reached behind the bar and got a bottle of vodka without anyone noticing. Then she walked over to the pool area where Tamsin was playing and sat on the pool table next to her.

Bo stepped in, “Lauren wouldn’t do that.” She looked at Lauren for confirmation and found it in Lauren’s eyes before she turned to Trick, “Lauren wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone.”

“I need to get back to my lab,” Lauren abruptly said, turning and walking out of the Dal.

Bo ran after her and stopped her just outside. “Are you okay?”

Lauren shook her head, “It’s just a lot in one day. I think I just need some time to think.” Lauren bit her lip and looked down at the ground. With great effort she raised her eyes to look at Bo, “I need someone to talk to.”

Bo pulled Lauren into her arms, “Of course. C’mon. We’ll go to my place and talk.”

Lauren nodded and allowed Bo to have her arm around Lauren as they walked to the car.

Once at Bo and Kenzi’s place, Bo poured two glasses of wine and sat with Lauren on the couch. Lauren took a small sip of her wine before placing it on the coffee table.

“You know some days I’d wish that I was Fae,” Lauren smiled wistfully. She turned to fully face Bo with her left side pressed against the back of the couch. “I was tired of being the smart human that had to do all the work and the research whenever someone told me to.”

Bo couldn’t help, but reach forward and gently pull some hair of Lauren’s that was stuck on the side of the couch, making it fall in line with all of her other hair. She smoothed out the strands between her fingers and said, “I know it was rough on you. It killed me to watch you feel like that. But now no one can own you.”

“But now they’re all afraid of me,” Lauren swallowed. “I just wanted to be seen as an equal. I don’t want to be a double agent or an enemy. I don’t want to be a slave either. I want to be an equal.”

“You are,” Bo assured her, but saw that it was going to take more than that to get Lauren to believe her. “You were then too.”

“I wasn’t,” Lauren sucked in her bottom lip. “I couldn’t help you heal. You had to go to other Fae. And I knew that logically it was the only way to keep you safe and healthy, but…I couldn’t provide what you needed.”

Bo took both of Lauren’s hands in her own, firmly holding on to the soft skin. She ran her thumb over the tops of Lauren’s fingers. She knew how hard that was on Lauren. She knew that when Lauren told her it was okay, Lauren’s heart was breaking a little every time she had to step out of their relationship to heal. She tried to find the exact words she needed to say to get her point across. Bo licked her lips, “All those other Fae were just food. You were – you are everything else. I never had sex with you because I had to. I did it because I love you. I love being that close to you. It always means something with you. Every. Single. Time.”

Lauren fought away tears. She looked at Bo through her watery eyes and shook her head, “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” Bo moved closer to Lauren. She wanted to just put her arms around Lauren, but was scared to overstep.

Lauren took a deep breath and looked into Bo’s eyes, “It wasn’t fair of me to ask you to take a break. I should have just stayed with your or let you go.” Lauren looked down and shook her head, “I was just scared that if we stayed together I’d push you away. I was also scared that if I let you go, I’d lose you forever.” The first tear made its way down her face before she could stop it.

Bo finally just pulled Lauren to her chest and held her firmly against her chest. “I love you. You could have tried to push me away, but I wouldn’t move. And there is no way you could ever lose me forever.” Bo rubbed Lauren’s back, “Even if you wanted to.”

Lauren smiled in spite of her tears. She just laid against Bo for a while, thinking to herself. Bo rubbed her back supportively; ready to hold her for the rest of eternity if she needed to.

Lauren finally sat up and pushed her hair away from her face, “Can we just do something normal?”

“Sure,” Bo nodded. Then she smiled, “But do you mean normal for us or normal for normal people?”

Lauren laughed and stood up, “C’mon. You can sit at the counter while I make dinner.”

Bo tried to protest and offer to make dinner, but Lauren just chuckled. Bo smiled bashfully, knowing that she couldn’t really cook at all.

Lauren quietly chopped vegetables while Bo contently watched. Bo took a sip of her wine, “Is it weird how nice this feels?”

Lauren smiled, knowing that she was the reason they hadn’t been doing this already. She moved the vegetables to a pan over the hot stove and looked up at Bo, “Why don’t you call Kenzi?”

“I texted her,” Bo pointed to her phone on the counter next to her. “She offered to stay at your place tonight if you wanted to stay here.” Bo offered the last of the sentence in a manner she hoped was both innocent and suggestive.

The doctor grinned and shook her head, “It’s not safe over there right now. Someone broke down my door.”

“It was in the heat of the moment. My girls were in trouble,” Bo picked up her wine glass, “I’ll fix it tomorrow.”

Lauren quirked her eyebrow in a challenge, “ _Your_ girls?”

Bo started stumbling over her words, “Not that I own you. Or that I really own Kenzi because humans shouldn’t be owned. You’re both very important to me.”

After picking up a wooden spoon, Lauren smirked, “I know what you meant. I was just surprised that you still thought of me like that after all that’s happened between us.”

“I already told you that I’ll always love you,” Bo confessed, running her finger over the stem of her wineglass. She didn’t want to sound corny and tell Lauren that she would have waited forever for her.

Lauren nodded while stirring the vegetables around in the pan. “I never stopped loving you, you know.”

“I know,” Bo breathed out.

“Good,” Lauren offered a small, hesitant smile. She placed the wooden spoon on the counter as the vegetables started to sizzle, “What about now?”

“What do you mean?” Bo asked, caught off guard, but knowing what Lauren was talking about. She knew that Lauren knew that she knew so she went on, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Lauren placed her hands on the counter and hung her head. She looked across the cold tile to Bo, “I’m sorry. That was unfair of me. I just don’t want you to have to be there- I don’t want you to have to share my burdens.”

Bo slowly stood up, “But that’s what a relationship is,” She rounded the counter and placed her hands on Lauren’s waist. “I want to share your burdens. You’ve shared so many of mine.”

“But there are going to be so many more in front of me now,” Lauren looked down, avoiding Bo’s eyes.

Bo just looked down too, resting her forehead on Lauren’s, “I know. But I’ve been through most of them. The Dawning isn’t so bad once it’s over.”

“What if this isn’t permanent?” Lauren asked, unsure.

“I loved human Lauren and I love Fae Lauren,” Bo grinned and slid her arms tight around Lauren’s waist, “And if it comes to it, I’ll love Underfae Lauren.”

Lauren looked up at Bo. She was smiling, but trying to be mad at Bo, “I have never failed a test in my life.”

Bo laughed and kissed Lauren, “I know. I just needed to get your attention.” She pulled Lauren to her and looked seriously into her eyes, “I love you and any other versions of you there are.”

Lauren dropped her head on to Bo’s shoulder, “I love you too.” She tucked her arms between them and let Bo hold her. Bo placed a short, sweet kiss to the side of Lauren’s neck before resting her chin on Lauren’s shoulder. After a minute she took a deep breath, “The idea of a Dawning sounds daunting right now.”

“Well it’s a good thing that yours is probably in a couple hundred years,” Bo smiled and pulled away. She had to admit that knowing that Lauren wasn’t going to die during the average human lifespan made her feel a little better. She was always terrified that she would watch Lauren grow old and die while she was still only into the adolescence of her lifespan. Now she only had to have those nightmares about Kenzi.

Lauren felt a weird feeling course through her. She shuddered and then lost her balance for a moment. “Lauren?” Bo asked.

Lauren shook her head, “I’m fine.” She shook her head, “Just hungry.”

Bo stopped Lauren from walking back to the stove, “That’s not it.”

“I don’t know right now,” Lauren looked at Bo, pointedly taking her arm out of Bo’s hand, “I won’t know after I conduct a lot of tests. Can I just – Can we just have dinner?”

Bo nodded, knowing that there was really no alternative. “Sure.”

Lauren finished dinner in silence and then served it on three plates. Just as she was setting it on the coffee table, Kenzi walked in the door. Bo and Lauren could tell that Kenzi was a little unsteady on her feet. Kenzi smiled when she saw what was on the table, “Alright. Food.”

“Are you okay, Kenz?” Bo asked, sitting down on the end of the couch.

Kenzi sat down next to her and picked up a plate, “Totally.” She picked up a fork and started shoveling food into her mouth.

Lauren sat down on the other side of Kenzi and picked up her plate. The three of them ate in a dense silence for at least ten minutes before Bo couldn’t take it anymore. She put her plate down on the table and stood up, “Alright, both of you are upset and I get it. Things are changing. Things are scary. But if you two aren’t going to tell me what’s wrong, I can’t help.” She paused and looked at both of them, “I want to help.”

Lauren looked over at Kenzi to see if she was going to say anything. Kenzi swallowed and looked down at her lap. She took a deep breath and looked at Bo like she was going to say something. But then she looked at the table, spotted Lauren’s wineglass and said, “Let me refill that.”

“At first you didn’t want Bo to have another human in her life,” Lauren’s words stopped Kenzi in her tracks. Then Lauren looked up at her, “Now you’re the only human and it scares you.”

Kenzi dropped her head, “Everyone  is going to outlive me. By hundreds of years. I don’t have any powers. I’m just…human.”

Bo walked purposefully to Kenzi and wrapped her up in a hug.

Lauren stood up and walked into the kitchen, taking the dirty plates with her. She was going to leave them to their moment.

However Kenzi had other plans, “Don’t think we forgot about you. I’m not the only one confessing things tonight.”

Lauren smiled softly, knowing that she was caught. She walked over to the couch and sat down, looking up at the two brunettes in front of her, “What happened to me, shouldn’t have happened. I’ve done thousands of tests where I do exactly what happened to me and every single one happened in the destruction of both pairs of DNA. I made Taft a human- Cabbit hybrid and that was after extensive time in a lab and surgery. I don’t know what happened or why it happened.” Lauren looked directly at Bo, “I should have just died.”

“You did die,” Bo told her, “Kenzi and I both saw it.”

“But I shouldn’t be alive now,” Lauren shook her head, “It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense and it’s happening inside of me right now.”

Bo took a deep breath and took both of Lauren’s hands. “We’ll figure it out okay? You can do whatever scieney thing that you do and I’ll call Trick.”

Lauren shook her head, “I don’t want to see Trick right now. I’m just going to go home.”

“We’ll go with you,” Kenzi butted in. “You know, just in case those freaks come back.” She knelt down and reached under the couch. She pulled out a large mace, “We’ll bring the party favors.”

“Thank you Kenzi,” Lauren reached over and touched her shoulder. After a thankful squeeze, Lauren let go and turned to clean up.

After cleaning up the dinner mess, the trio made their way to Lauren’s apartment. She immediately went to the lab while Bo and Kenzi sat down on the couch for a bad horror film night courtesy of the local public broadcast channel.

Lauren looked up from her microscope and saw Bo and Kenzi cuddled on the couch. She smiled a small smile and stood up straight. She checked the time and saw that it was getting late. She went to her kitchen, popped some popcorn, and grabbed a blanket.

She carried both to the couch and leaned over the back of the couch setting the popcorn in Kenzi’s lap. “Oh bless you, golden haired angel.” Kenzi shoved a handful into her mouth.

Lauren laid the blanket across Bo’s lap. As she stood up straight, Bo caught her arm. Then Bo captured her lips. “Are you going to take a break and watch the zombies try to get the guy in the cabin?”

Lauren smiled because Bo kissed her. It had been so long since Bo just stopped her doing whatever she was doing and kissed her. “Maybe in a little while.”

“You better hurry,” Kenzi stared intently at the screen, “The best gore scene is coming up. Blood squirts everywhere.”

“I’ll be sure to watch from the lab,” Lauren promised and made her way back to the lab.

True to her word, Lauren watched the zombie’s head come off, spraying greenish-grey goo everywhere. Kenzi cheered and looked back at Lauren. Lauren smiled at her and nodded. When Kenzi turned back to the movie, Lauren turned back to her own blood under the microscope.

When she had finally come to the terrible, devastating conclusion, Lauren turned off the microscope. She turned off her computer and looked at the three vials of serum that she made for herself. She closed them in her desk drawer and locked it.

Lauren slowly rose from the desk and stretched her back. The film marathon had descended into the really terrible b-movies so she knew it was well past one in the morning. She took a labored breath. Then she took another. Lauren looked at the couch and knew that Kenzi was asleep. Her head had disappeared from the horizon of the back of the couch.

She glanced in the corner of the room where her badly charred chaise was still standing. Her eyes caught some shadows of ash on the wall behind the chaise. Lauren didn’t let her eyes trace the outline of the shadow because it was still all too eerie that she had actually died.

Lauren rounded the couch. Bo looked up when Lauren got into her view. Then she lifted the blanket next to her so that Lauren would be covered when she sat down. Lauren lowered herself onto the couch and leaned into Bo.

“What’s the prognosis Doctor?” Bo asked, kissing the top of Lauren’s head.

Lauren bit her tongue. She didn’t want to alarm Bo. So she settled for a little white lie, “I don’t know yet.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Bo breathed out with a yawn. “Do you want to go to bed? Or another bath?”

“Bed sounds great,” Lauren stood up first. She helped Bo up and then hugged Bo’s waist when they were both standing.

“Lauren?” Bo asked, getting more worried with Lauren’s every move, “What’s wrong? What did you find out?”

Lauren shook her head again Bo’s shoulder, “Nothing conclusive.”

“We’ll fix it,” Bo promised, her heart breaking as she thought about all the things she knew could go wrong, knowing that there were so many things. But she was going to find a way to fix it. She was going to do everything she could. “I promise.”

Lauren didn’t say anything. She just pulled away from Bo and led the way up to the bed.


	4. Chapter 4

 Lauren couldn’t sleep. She wasn’t actually planning to sleep. She just wanted Bo to be comfortable. She had seen the way that a sleeping Kenzi could monopolize a couch.

She laid contently in Bo’s arms until she managed to drift off around six. It was ten before she woke up from a frightful sleep. Bo was still sleeping so Lauren slipped out of bed and changed clothes. She made her way downstairs. Kenzi was still snoring so Lauren covered her with a blanket that had been kicked off in the night.

In her lab, Lauren took a blood sample from herself. She carefully used a pipet to place a single drop on a microscope slide. The results were the same as the night before. It was good because she wasn’t getting any worse, but she also wasn’t getting any better. She stored the rest of the sample in the refrigerator.

On her way out the door, she grabbed her jacket and keys.

“I need to know about the Phoenix samples that you gave me,” Lauren demanded before Hale even saw her. He turned on his barstool and swirled around the scotch in his glass. It was early to be drinking, but he hadn’t gone to bed yet.

He turned to her, “I’m not the acting Ash anymore. I don’t have those records. What’s up?”

Lauren sat down next to him and looked him in the eye, “I’m dying and I need to know why.”

Hale immediately frowned, “Like, really dying?”

Lauren looked around and lowered her voice, “Yes, really. My cells are dying at a rate that is…cause for alarm.” She touched his arm, “Please don’t tell anyone.”

He looked around the Dal as well and spotted a few people Lauren probably didn’t want him to tell. Kenzi and Bo were walking in, purposefully making their way toward them. He looked back at Lauren who had a desperate look on her face, “I’ll see what I can do.” He swallowed the rest of his scotch and then stood from the bar. He nodded to Kenzi and Bo as he passed them to walk out the door.

“Not that I ever look down on a little drink before breakfast, but what is the deal with sneaking out?” Kenzi asked, sitting on the stool next to Lauren.

“I need to talk to Trick,” Lauren looked at Bo, who looked suspiciously back.

“He’s probably still in the back,” Kenzi leaned over the bar. She looked in the door to the back, “Yo, Trick!” Then she spotted a bottle of scotch close to her. She picked it up. She mumbled to herself, “I’m going to have a scotch. Don’t say anything if it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” Trick stepped out of the door. He slowed his walk when he saw Lauren and Bo. “What can I do for you?”

Lauren looked at Bo and then back at Trick, “Can I talk to you privately?”

Trick nodded immediately. “Of course. Come back to my office.” He picked up the towel that was draped across his shoulder and tossed it at Bo, “Bo, man the bar.”

Bo caught the towel in disbelief that she was just brushed off like that. She watched them disappear, then walked behind the bar. She noticed a distinct lack of people drinking. In fact, the only other person in the Dal was Kenzi. Bo dropped the towel on the bar and looked at Kenzi, “What can I get you, stranger?”

“I’ll take a glass of that eighty year old scotch behind that bar,” Kenzi pointed.

“Trick would kill me,” Bo answered. She grabbed two beers out of the cooler and handed one to Kenzi, “Besides, we haven’t had breakfast yet.”

“Speak for yourself,” Kenzi twisted off the top of her beer, “I had a handful of stale popcorn before you drug me out the door.”

“Gross,” Bo made a face and then continued to wipe the bar. She stopped and inspected the bar where she was wiping. “Does this even do anything?”

Kenzi opened Bo’s beer and pushed it over to her. Bo dropped the towel and picked up the beer. She leaned on the bar, pressing her forearms again the wood. Bo rolled the bottle between her hands and looked at Kenzi dead in the eyes. “Something bad is happening. I can feel it.”

“You did just see your girlfriend die in front of you and then burst into flames,” Kenzi put her hands about Bo’s, “That is enough to throw anyone off.”

“No,” Bo shook her head, “When we got into bed after she was done in the lab she was really shaken up. I didn’t want to say anything, but this morning, she snuck out to come see Trick. Usually she’ll just camp out in her lab, until she solves the problem with that giant sexy brain of hers, but…she needs help.” Bo took a sip of her beer, “And I can’t help her.”

“I don’t have to tell you that there isn’t any precedence for this,” Trick told Lauren when he went to sit down behind his desk.

“I know,” Lauren nodded, “I researched while I was watching my own blood cells dying at an alarming rate under a microscope.” She paused to gather her words, “Scientifically, I can’t find a reason why I’m not dead right now.”

“Sometimes,” Trick paused, “Science can’t explain Fae.” He got off of his desk chair and walked around it to stand in front of Lauren. “I’ve been reading on the history of experimentation in humans and Fae. No one has been successful until you. There’s no history. There’s no precedence. You’re the first surviving human to Fae.”

“How long is the history?” Lauren asked, leaning on the desk.

“Centuries,” Trick walked back around his desk and pulled out a book. He opened it and placed it before Lauren. The drawn picture was gruesome. A man had a knife, dismembering a werewolf that was chained to a post. “Some of the earlier attempts were very barbaric. The eating of Fae to absorb their powers. Attempting to transplant Fae body parts into a human. A lot of humans died trying to find a way to become Fae.”

Lauren moved to the couch and sat down. “I made a few stabilization serums to keep some kind of equilibrium inside of me while I figure out exactly what’s wrong and how to fix it.”

“You’ll know better than anyone how to fix this,” Trick told Lauren. “However, I’ll continue looking into this. In the meantime, I think you should be prepared for some…other Fae who won’t be as accepting. I just want you to watch your back. You can set up a lab in here if you’d like. That way Bo, Dyson, Hale, and I can watch out for you.”

Lauren folded her hands and looked down, “I don’t think I need a protective detail that extreme. How many people could already know about me?”

“Word travels fast,” Trick added, attempting to warn Lauren in a nicest way possible.

Lauren looked up at Trick, “Thank you for your concern. I’m going to think about it for a little while. I don’t think that anyone will be trying to get to me anytime soon.”

“Keep an eye out,” Trick told her, knowing that there would be no way to convince her. “If you can, send me some of your blood samples so that I can run some tests on them. I have some substances that might give us an idea of what’s going on.”

Lauren licked her lips and looked at Trick, “Thank you. I’ll bring them over first thing in the morning.”

“I’ll be here,” Trick assured her.

When Lauren emerged from the back of the bar, Bo perked up from her seat at near the pool table. She rose from her seat and walked up to Lauren, “So?”

Lauren shrugged, “We don’t know anything more than we knew before.”

“Which is?” Bo asked hopefully.

“Not a lot,” Lauren stated and looked around, “Did Hale leave?”

Bo nodded. She glanced at the door then back at Lauren, “He told me to tell you that he’d drop off what you needed at your apartment.”

“Good.”

“What is he talking about?” Bo asked, hoping that this time she would get a straight answer from Lauren.

Lauren sat down at the table. She gestured to Bo’s drink. Bo nodded and pushed it toward Lauren. The doctor took a healthy sip before looked at Bo, “Hale gave me those DNA samples to run some tests on. He wanted me to try to track lineage on them, find out what kind of Fae they were. He wouldn’t tell me why. He told me that after I did that, I could use them for whatever I wanted.” Lauren took another sip of the drink and leaned on the table, “I was just going to use them for research. I have a large database of Fae DNA which helps me track mutations. I asked him to see if he could find out where those samples came from. It might help me figure out what’s going on with me.”

Bo was just relieved that Lauren told her the truth. She reached across the table and took Lauren’s hand, “Is there anything I can do?”

“Stay with me?” Lauren asked, allowing her curtain of logic and science to slip and show how vulnerable she felt.

Bo nodded, “Of course. Always.” She stood up and walked around the table, wrapping her arms around Lauren, “Always.” She kissed Lauren’s head and smiled to herself when Lauren rested her head on her shoulder.

Lauren took a deep, long breath, “I think I’m going to go back to my apartment and lay down. There isn’t much I can do now.”

“Let’s go,” Bo took Lauren’s hand, helping her stand up even though she didn’t need to. She walked toward the bar with Lauren following, tethered by their hands. Bo stopped next to Kenzi. She put her hand on Kenzi’s shoulder, “Can you stay here and let me know if Hale shows up? Or Trick finds something out?”

“Of course,” Kenzi nodded. She leaned over the bar and picked out a bottle of vodka. She offered it to Lauren, “A gift from my people to you.”

Lauren smiled and accepted it, “Thank you, Kenzi.”

When Lauren and Bo got back to the apartment, Lauren drug Bo up the stairs to Bo’s surprise. She was sure that Lauren would go straight to her lab. They went straight to the bedroom. Lauren pushed Bo into a seated position on the bed. Lauren locked eyes with Bo as she look a large swig of the vodka Kenzi gave her.

Then she straddled Bo, her knees on either side of Bo’s thighs. Bo’s hands immediately went to Lauren’s thighs, moving slowly and firmly upwards until they cupped Lauren’s ass. After pausing in place to make sure Lauren’s gaze was still solidly in hers, Bo moved her hands up, slipping them under Lauren’s shirt. She pushed her hands up Lauren’s back. Having been introduced to the complex and lengthy world of the Fae, Bo knew that there were few things she really knew for sure, but she knew Lauren. She knew that Lauren didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to research. Lauren wanted to just feel and Bo planned to make her feel everything she possibly could.

Lauren dipped her head down, her open lips almost brushing against Bo’s. Instead she just hovered over Bo’s lips, pausing to breathe the same, charged air as Bo. Bo made a small surge forward which Lauren countered by pulling back.

Bo ran her teeth over her bottom lip with a smile. She moved her fingers to the front of Lauren’s shirt to start unbuttoning it. Their eyes never parted as Bo unbuttoned the shirt and then pushed it off of Lauren’s shoulders. Bo tried for a kiss again, but Lauren pulled away, this time with a small smirk of her own.

Bo decided she was going to kiss Lauren, even if it wasn’t on her lips. Bo dipped her head down and kissed the top of Lauren’s right breast, then the left. She kissed Lauren’s clavicle, then the curve of her neck. She ran her lips lightly up Lauren’s neck until she kissed the bottom of Lauren’s jaw.

Lauren let out a low, breathy moan. “Bo.”

“Yes?” Bo whispered seductively into Lauren’s ear.

Lauren picked her hands up and placed her hands on Bo’s cheeks, making her look up into her eyes. “I love you.”

Something about the way she said it was so sad and hopeless. Bo faltered for a moment trying to find a way to assure Lauren that everything was going to be okay. She didn’t know if she actually could. But she did know that tonight she could assure Lauren of one thing and she was going to do her best. “I love you.” Then she dove into Lauren’s lips.

Lauren didn’t really remember falling asleep. She stretched her sore body under the security of her sheet and blankets. She looked to her left and saw Bo, sleeping soundly next to her. Bo’s arm rested on top of the blanket and over Lauren’s waist. Lauren smiled, knowing that after she went to sleep, Bo covered her so she wouldn’t get cold.

She leaned over and kissed Bo’s forehead. Then she slid out of bed. Instead of going straight to her lab after getting dressed, Lauren went to her kitchen. She looked through all the food that she had and decided on a simple breakfast. It didn’t take her long to finish breakfast, only about half an hour. When it was all done, she put it on a tray and carried it back upstairs to her bedroom.

Bo had already started to stir. She had flopped onto her stomach, but was making a series of small groans and mewls indicating that she was about to wake up. Lauren placed the breakfast on the nightstand and slipped back into the bed.

Bo moved toward Lauren and curled up against her side. Lauren stroked Bo’s hair until she woke up completely. Bo loved seeing Lauren first thing in the morning. She loved feeling Lauren’s fingers gently massaging her scalp before she even woke up.

“Mmm, what’s the occasion?” Bo asked, as Lauren handed her a cup of coffee.

Lauren shook her head, “No occasion.”

“I thought you would have gone straight to you lab when you woke up,” Bo confessed as she sat up.

Lauren picked up the tray of food and set it in her own lap because Bo was still sitting a little sideways. She picked up a slice of orange and offered it to Bo. The Succubus took the orange and bit into it. Lauren pushed some of Bo’s hair out of the way. “Some things are more important right now.”

Bo didn’t tell Lauren that she was getting worried. She usually had to drag Lauren away from the lab to come to bed or to eat. Now Lauren was avoiding going to the lab. Bo put her hands on the bed and pushed up until her lips brushed against Lauren’s. Lauren hummed into the kiss and when Bo pulled away she smiled.

Bo smiled back and was content to play along with Lauren for the time being. She liked her time with Lauren and she knew that now more than ever, time was precious.

After breakfast and a joint shower that took longer than it should have, Bo got dressed in her clothes from the night before and Lauren wore a blue button down and jeans. She shrugged on her lab coat as she followed Bo down the stairs.

“I’ll go straight to Trick,” Bo promised.

Lauren nodded. She went to the lab and got out a small metal briefcase. She took a few vials of her own blood and then placed them in the foam padding of the briefcase. When she closed it, she handed it to Bo. “Thank you.”

“All in a day’s work,” Bo saluted Lauren. She grinned and then leaned over the desk for a kiss. “I’ll be back soon.”

Lauren nodded, “I’ll be here.”

Bo kissed Lauren again, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Lauren echoed and watched Bo walk out.

Lauren worked for a while, but found herself constantly checking the door. Trick’s warning had gotten to her. She was worried about the Kelpie and her boyfriend to come back. She was worried that the word about her transformation had spread and there would be Fae coming after her for being impure. She also waited for Bo to come back.

If she was honest, she was scared to be alone. She wasn’t sure who she was anymore or what was going on inside of her and she didn’t want to be alone. She put up her brave front, like always, but she wasn’t sure that it would be able to stand through this ordeal.

The door flew open and Lauren jumped away from her lab, reaching for the closest dangerous object to defend herself with. She found herself clutching a scalpel as Kenzi waltzed in. She scanned around and found Lauren behind the beakers and tubes, “Trick says that we need to get to the Dal right now.”

Lauren looked down at her hand and saw the scalpel. She dropped it on the counter and asked, “Me?”  She knew it was a stupid question, but she wasn’t used to being summoned by Trick.

“Yeah you,” Kenzi walked all the way in, “He said it was important. Bo and Dyson are already there.”

Lauren took off her lab coat and picked up her jacket, shrugging it on, “Is there something wrong?” As she asked, she started thinking of all the things that could go wrong. Trick had only had her blood samples for…calculating the time it would have taken Bo to get to the Dal even with heavy traffic… Trick could have only had them for half an hour. What could he have found in half an hour that Lauren, herself couldn’t find in a day and a half?

“I don’t know,” Kenzi shrugged and lead the way out. “I was on my way to see if I could find out some information about a missing squonk from a street kid, which I’m sure was Bo’s way of keeping me in your neighborhood to keep an eye out for you. Bo called me and told me to get you to the Dal asap.”


	5. Chapter 5

Lauren quickly followed Kenzi into the hallway and down to Bo’s car. The drive was quiet and tense as Kenzi drove as quickly as possible to the Dal. When they walked in, everyone seemed to be waiting anxiously for them. Tamsin was the only one that didn’t have a serious expression on her face. In fact, she had a sly smirk and eyed Lauren.

“C’mon,” Bo stepped up to her and took Lauren’s arm, gently guiding her toward the back.

“What’s going on?” Lauren asked, looking from person to person for clues to what was going on.

Trick lead the rest of the group toward the back, behind Bo and Lauren, “It’s really something that is better shown then explained.”

Lauren reached behind her for Bo’s hand which was already seeking her hand out. Lauren was confused and her mind ran through all the things that it could be and none of the things she thought it could be could compare to the confusion the real thing caused her. Standing in the middle of Trick’s office was the ritualistic doorway. The same ritualistic doorway she saw Bo bump into multiple times before she finally made it through.

Lauren was at a loss for words. She tried to say something, but nothing really came out. Finally she shook her head, “This isn’t for me.”

“Every Fae in this room has already gone through that arch,” Tamsin crossed her arms.

“It’s too soon,” Lauren shook her head and turned to Trick, “Five hundred years too soon.”

Trick walked to the doorway and put his hand on it, “There is no precedence for this kind of thing. You know that.”

“The Dawning is supposed to test a Fae’s worthiness of their abilities,” Dyson offered, “Maybe it’s different with you because you’re the first of your kind to survive.”

Lauren looked at the arch and then at Trick, “This can’t be right.”

“With the decaying of your cells, it makes sense,” Trick told Lauren. “You’re not that far into the process so you can take a few days to sort yourself out. I called Stella, but she is preparing another Fae at the moment and she didn’t seem too keen on the idea of helping a human-born Fae.”

“What?” Bo frowned, “That’s bullshit. Lauren deserves all the help that everyone else gets.” Bo was beyond pissed. “What is her problem? Lauren has saved more Fae ass than most Fae.”

“We understand that,” Dyson stepped up to Bo and Lauren. He put his hand on Lauren’s shoulder, “Which is why we’re going to help you.”

“Hale will help you with Fae history,” Trick gestured to Hale. Trick looked through the rest of the group, “Dyson will help you with combat skills. Tamsin has volunteered to help you hone your Fae abilities.”

“How long do you think we have?” Hale asked, putting his hands into his pockets.

“Based on what Lauren has told me and the samples she gave me,” Trick shrugged thoughtfully, “We have about a week. Maybe ten days.”

“I have the three vials of serum,” Lauren added, “That’ll buy a few more days.”

“Regardless we need to start soon,” Dyson stepped in.

“I’m not super worried about working out the Doc’s brain,” Tamsin stated, “I think we need to start working out the Phoenix. I need somewhere big and neutral so we can tap into that beast.”

“I know a place,” Trick nodded.

“Should we like make a schedule?” Kenzi asked. She walked to the desk and picked up a blank piece of paper. She looked at Hale, “How long do you think you’ll need?”

Hale shook his head, “Not long. She already had access to most of our history. There are just a few things we need to go over.”

“So I’m giving you Sunday at ten,” Kenzi scribbled it down.

Bo was listening to the schedule making before she realized that Lauren was gone. Bo didn’t say anything. She walked out of Trick’s office and found Lauren in the empty bar. Bo walked behind the bar and got out two glasses. She poured a healthy scotch for both of them and slid one to Lauren. “Would it be a stupid question if I asked if you were okay?”

Lauren offered a small, forced smile before gulping down half of her drink. She set it down on the bar and took a deep breath. She shook her head. “It’s just a lot at one time.”

“I know you didn’t ask for this,” Bo leaned across the bar to take Lauren’s hand in both of her own, “But we will all help you through this. And you’ve never failed a test in your life remember?”

Her attempt at a joke made Lauren crack a smile. “Thank you, Bo.”

Bo leaned in a little more and kissed Lauren lightly, “We’ll all be here for you. I know Kenz and I aren’t really experts in anything, but we’ll be your support team.”

“Good,” Lauren ran a hand through her hair, “I have a feeling I’m going to need support.” She stood up, “I’m going to the washroom.”

Bo just watched her walk off before rounding the bar to take a seat on the stool Lauren just vacated. Kenzi walked in and stood behind the bar.

“I smell smoke,” Kenzi leaned forward over the bar, getting out a bottle of vodka. “Whatcha thinking about?”

Bo picked up the bar rag and took one side of it in each hand. “What if the Dawning is mad at me?”

“The Dawning isn’t a person,” Kenzi quirked an eyebrow.

“The Dawning doesn’t have to be a person to be mad at me,” Bo rested her forearms on the bar. She leaned into the bar and looked square at Kenzi, “I broke all the rules. I did what I wanted to do. What if the Dawning is mad at me and takes it out on Lauren?”

Kenzi was about to tell Bo that she was crazy when it hit her that it might not be all that crazy. They had definitely run into things that had emotions. But Kenzi wasn’t sure that the Dawning would hold a grudge, “I doubt that the Dawning would take it out on Lauren. Like, how would it even know you were together?”

“The Dawning knows everything,” Bo huffed and dropped her head on the bar.

“If the Dawning does know everything, Lauren is the one person we know that can outsmart it right?” Kenzi asked. Then she slid a paper in front of Bo, “Check it. Here’s what we worked out for Lauren’s schedule. I totally left evenings open so you two can _recharge_.”

Bo picked up her head and then picked up the piece of paper, “Is it weird that Tamsin wants to help?”

“Totally weird,” Kenzi got out a shaker and scooped up some ice with it. “But if Lauren accidentally blows up anyone, I’d be most okay with it being Tamsin.”

“Well I hope that I won’t blow anyone up,” Lauren called from the corner near the bathroom.

Kenzi looked guiltily up, “I didn’t mean that you can’t control yourself or anything.”

“You’re right though,” Lauren stated, matter-of-factly trying to hide the terror that she felt, “I don’t know anything about any of my powers. The varying abilities of Phoenixes make it hard to pinpoint which ones I actually have acquired. I’m afraid to try them because I can’t control them and I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Bo stood up and walked over to Lauren. Lauren seemed hesitant, so Bo didn’t try to touch her. She just stood in front of her. “We will figure it out together. I promise. You are not in this alone.”

Lauren didn’t want to dwell on the negative sides of what was happening. If she did, she would have time to completely realize how absolutely overwhelmed and out of control she felt. “Let’s look at my schedule.” She stepped to the bar and picked up the piece of paper. She looked it over then smiled, “Bo Time?”

“The most important part of the day,” Bo grinned and put her hand on Lauren’s back, just to have her hand on Lauren for support. She wasn’t sure if it was support for herself or for Lauren.

“Thank you Kenzi,” Lauren put the paper back down on the bar.

Kenzi picked up the paper and toyed with the corner, “So tonight is wide open. What do you want to do?”

“Girls’ night? Just the three of us?” Lauren suggested. She hoped that being around both Bo and Kenzi would distract her enough so that she didn’t feel like she was drowning anymore. She just couldn’t seem to shake that feeling. “Somewhere other than here.”

“She’s right,” Kenzi leaned on the bar and looked at Bo, “We never go out. If I didn’t almost get killed every day, we would be so boring.”

Bo smiled, supportive of whatever Lauren wanted to do. “Let’s do it.”

“But wait,” Kenzi checked behind herself for Trick before getting out three glasses. She poured them all double shots, “We have to pre-game here because it’s freesies.”

They all took a shot together then Kenzi offered Lauren another. Lauren took it and then set the glass on the bar. “C’mon. I wanna dance.”

Bo looked at Kenzi. Both were surprised, but Bo happily put her hands on Lauren’s shoulders and guided her out of the Dal.

Their first stop was a club that Kenzi had heard great things about. The music was pulsing and the people were young and beautiful.

The lights were dim so Bo kept a hand on both Kenzi and Lauren. Kenzi lead the way to a table like a hyperactive puppy. She drummed on the table, “This place is awesome! I haven’t been to a real, human club in forever.”

Bo sniffed around her. The sexual energy in the club was intoxicating. She knew her eyes flashed blue, but she pushed the hunger down. Now was not the place to suck the chi out of an entire room. A waitress came by and asked what they wanted to drink. Lauren handed over a credit card and told the waitress that Bo and Kenzi were with her. Then she told Kenzi to order a bottle of whatever. Kenzi grinned and hugged Lauren then ordered.

After hanging around at their table for a while and scoping out the club, the drinks arrived. They all poured themselves a healthy drink and after downing a few, Bo pulled Lauren onto the dance floor. Lauren was a little worried about leaving Kenzi alone before she saw Kenzi dancing with a tall man a few feet away.

“Notice anything about Kenzi’s dance partner?” Lauren asked.

Bo looked over her shoulder and grinned, “We should just call Hale to come dance with us so she could dance with the real thing.”

“How would it look if the Ash-elect were dancing with a human in a human club?” Lauren smirked, not hiding her bitterness toward the Fae rules and societal standards.

Bo could see it, but she was too overcome by hunger to really address the issue. Instead she pulled Lauren closer. She made sure that not even air could get between them. She dipped her head down and ran her nose up Lauren’s neck, smelling the chi swirling inside of her. Bo knew she had the hungry succubus in her under control, but it was times like these that she had to fight it back down.

Lauren felt the change in Bo. It wasn’t a new ability acquired with her new Fae identity. It was from knowing Bo intimately. Bo was turned on and hungry. Something about Bo coming on that strong turned Lauren on as well. She rested for forearms on Bo’s shoulders and moved closer. She felt Bo’s hands on her hips as they moved to the music.

Lauren had danced with women before. She’d danced with men before. She went to clubs all across Europe when she was studying abroad. But nothing, nowhere, and no one had ever made her feel so much. She felt warm and sexy. She felt like she and Bo were the only ones in the room.

Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion.

“Hey!” Kenzi appeared next to them in their little bubble, popping it immediately, “Bo-Bo, your eyes were doing that glowy thing and freaking everyone out. Also,” Kenzi turned to Lauren, “Yours were glowing a little orange there too, so maybe you two take this home like the good old fashioned Fae of yore and fornicate in the privacy of your own bed.” Kenzi tapped Lauren’s shoulder and put her hand on Bo’s arm, “I’ll grab your card Lauren, and Bo, I’m taking the car home since you’re buzzed on chi. The rest of the bottle at the table and I have a date with the cable in Lauren’s apartment.”

Bo blinked. She didn’t realized what she was doing. Lauren didn’t seem to know either. Bo did know one thing though. She was going to do exactly what Kenzi told them to. She pulled a still dazed and slightly drunk Lauren out of the club and hailed a cab.

The clothes started flying off the second they walked into the doorway of Bo’s place. Their movements were clumsy, but their kisses were deliberate. Bo ripped off Lauren’s shirt and then picked her up, placing her on the nearest flat surface, sending a candle and an empty pizza box off the other side of the kitchen counter. Bo hopped up on the counter, straddling Lauren’s waist before lowering her onto her back.

Lauren awoke the next morning naked, covered in a blanket on the coffee table. She slowly sat up and looked around. She stretched her back and stood, wrapping the blanket around herself. It seemed that she was alone in the apartment. Her back was really aching from sleeping on the coffee table so she figured since she was alone she could shower.

When she walked into the bathroom, the tub looked too enticing. She started running the water and let the tub fill up. She sunk into the warm water and tossed the towel onto the sink.

“Lauren?” Bo called a few minutes into Lauren’s bath.

“I’m in the bathtub,” Lauren called back. She listened to Bo’s heels on the floor, walking toward her.

Bo smiled when she saw Lauren. She had a paper bag and a paper cup of coffee in her hand. “Sore?”’

Lauren grinned, “Yes. Very.”

Bo walked to the tub and sat on the edge, “Since I’m not a great cook, I went to get you breakfast for your first day of training.” She offered Lauren the coffee first.

Lauren accepted it and took a sip. “Thank you.” She leaned back and took a deep breath, “My first day of training.” Lauren really let it sink in. “For my Dawning.”

Bo smiled at her, “You will do amazing. I just wish that-” She stopped talking when her phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket and answered, “Hey Kenzi.”

Lauren looked up at Bo and watched her talk on the phone. There were some times when she would look at Bo and be struck by how beautiful she was.

“Yeah, she’s with me,” Bo smiled into the phone, “Yes, I will have her to training on time.” Bo paused to listen, “Bye, Mom.” Bo hung up and looked at Lauren, “Kenzi is taking this schedule thing seriously. You’re supposed to meet Dyson at the gym in an hour.”

Lauren looked around for a towel, “I guess I have to get ready now.”

Bo stood up and found a towel for Lauren. Lauren stood up and Bo wrapped the towel around her. She kissed Lauren, “You will kick ass.”

Lauren quirked an eyebrow, “I haven’t kicked ass since boot camp.”

“Ooh, tell me more,” Bo grinned and offered her hand to Lauren to help her out of the tub, “I think I like these images in my head of GI Lauren.”

Lauren blushed, “I assure you it wasn’t pretty.” She took Bo’s hand and stepped out of the bathtub.

“C’mon,” Bo kept Lauren’s hand in her own and pulled Lauren out of the bathroom, grabbing her breakfast on the way out. She pulled Lauren to the bed and had her sit down. Bo set the food and coffee on the nightstand.  “Would you like to borrow some clothes?”

“Please,” Lauren nodded. She knew she would feel better throughout the day knowing that she was wearing something of Bo’s. She watched Bo disappear into the closet before picking up her coffee and breakfast. She opened the bag to find her favorite kind of muffin and a banana.

“How are you feeling?” Bo asked, walking out of the closet with some yoga pants and a black muscle shirt.

Lauren shrugged, “I don’t think I’ve fully processed it yet.” She picked up the shirt and pulled it on over her head so that she could let the towel drop. Then she stood up and pulled the pants on. Lauren pulled out the banana and peeled it.

“Well if it helps, you look badass,” Bo grinned and playfully tugged at the bottom of Lauren’s pants.

Lauren hummed in amusement and took a bite of her banana. Then she offered it to Bo. Bo sat on the bed next to Lauren and took a bite of the banana as well. Then she kissed Lauren’s cheek. “Have you ever really talked to Tamsin?”

Lauren thought it over. “Not really. Not since the time I slapped her.”

Bo immediately fell quiet, knowing how pissed Lauren was that Tamsin kissed her and she didn’t tell Lauren.

Lauren knew why Bo hadn’t added anything. She chose to just glance over the problem and address it later. “You don’t trust her?”

Bo started moving again. She stood up and picked up the towel on the floor, “I just don’t understand her motives. I haven’t really ever experienced Tamsin doing something out of the goodness of her heart.”

“Well, I think at this point, I’ll take all the help I can get,” Lauren stretched her back before dumping the banana peel in the empty bag, “No matter how nefarious the motives behind it may be.”


	6. Chapter 6

“I don’t like to use physical violence,” Lauren stated, tugging at the muscle shirt that was clinging to her in the humid boxing gym.

Dyson found himself smiling despite the situation. He put his hands up on front of him. “You don’t have to use it offensively, but you need to know how to protect yourself. You have to be ready for anything.”

Lauren put her wrapped fists up with a huff. “Fine.”

Dyson stood up straight and rubbed a hand on his shirt, “Now I’m going to come at you. I want you to try to deflect as best you can. Just to see where you’re at.”

Lauren nodded again. She watched Dyson carefully. She hopped back when he pretended to lunge at her. When he actually went for her, grabbing for her shoulder, Lauren grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm and by proxy, his body away from her. She leveraged his arm to push him onto his knees and places one of her knees on his back.

Dyson tried to maneuver out of her hold without using his wolf strength and found that he couldn’t. When Lauren let go, he stood up, rubbing his shoulder, “You’re good.”

“I was in the army,” Lauren shrugged.

Dyson tried to keep the banter good natured and put his hands back up, “So I guess we can skip shooting practice.”

“We definitely can,” Lauren nodded. She put her hands back up.

Dyson got ready to pretend attack Lauren again. He took a deep breath through his nose. He immediately regretted that because it burned. Every time he was around Lauren and took a deep breath, it burned all the way through his nose, into his lungs. He shook out his head.

“Are you okay?” Lauren asked, starting to take the wraps off of her hands.

Dyson nodded. “I just need to make a call. Just start hitting the punching bag.” Dyson started walking out the door, “I’ll get us some water too.”

When Dyson turned around to walk out, he had to sidestep Bo. Bo looked up at him, “Hey! How is she doing?”

“Great,” Dyson put his hands on his hips and nodded, “She’s a lot stronger now.”

“Yeah I know,” Bo looked past Dyson at Lauren and then looked back up at him, “You don’t wanna know.” She waved off his questioning look. “Is she going to be ready?”

“She’s the only one that can tell you that,” Dyson patted Bo’s arm, “I’m going to get some air. Every time I’m around Lauren it burns my nose.”

Bo furrowed her eyebrows, “Really?”

“It’s like fire,” Dyson said as he moved past Bo.

Bo walked into the gym and straight to Lauren. She watched Lauren hit the punching bag until the doctor acknowledged her. Lauren smiled at her, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Bo took a step closer, “You were really aching to train weren’t you.”

“Who says I can’t kill two birds with one stone?” Lauren asked. She turned back to the punching bag, “Work out my problems with Dyson and train.”

“So you have a problem with Dyson?” Bo asked crossing her arms. She sort of always knew that there was tension between Lauren and Dyson, but she didn’t think it would interfere with Lauren’s Dawning.

Lauren dropped her arms. “I am just covering all my bases. I would like this Dawning to go as smoothly as possible.” She turned back to the bag and lifted her arms, “I need to make peace with everyone and yes, there has been some… animosity there.” Lauren punched the bag and smiled, “But I’m working through it.”

Bo couldn’t help, but smile, “I’m all for you two working it out.”

“On that same note,” Lauren hit the bag a few more times, “I think we need have a night with just you and me. We need to talk. No drinking and no clubs. Just to make sure everything is good before I try to walk through the arch. The odds are already stacked against me not being Fae-born.” Lauren wiped her brow with the top of her wrist, “I probably need to talk to Kenzi. I’ve been having the weirdest dreams about her lately.”

“Sex dreams?” Bo furrowed her eyebrows.

Lauren shook her head, “Of course not. She just chases me through an alley with a katana before stabbing me in the heart.” Lauren hit the bag, “I think I need to make a list. I have some words for the last Ash.”

“Hale?” Bo asked, poking around Lauren’s gym bag while Lauren was preoccupied with the bag.

“Before Hale,” Lauren turned to Bo and caught her looking through her bag. “He made a huge point to tell me every time we interacted to let me know that I was only there to serve him.” She gestured to the bag with a smirk, “Looking for something?”

Bo stuck her hand in the back and pulled out a large knife. “Anticipating a street fight?”

“Kenzi gave that to me,” Lauren smiled. “I can’t see why it would hurt. I won’t carry a gun.” Lauren started to unwrap her hands, “Trick said that there might be some Fae after me because I’m not a _real_ Fae.”

“Yeah, he said something like that to me too,” Bo nodded and looked around the gym. She gestured to the boxing ring, “Wanna spar?”

“Really?” Lauren quirked an eyebrow.

Bo grinned and gently punched Lauren’s shoulder, “Are you scared?”

“I’m warning you now,” Lauren picked up a pair of boxing gloves, “I don’t know my own strength. Literally.”

“Well lucky for you, I’m a succubus so it is pretty hard to hurt me,” Bo picked up another pair of gloves. She sniffed inside the glove and then wished she hadn’t. “And even if you do hurt me, you can fix it later.”

It was meant to be suggestive, but Lauren flinched at the sentence. She wrote it on her mental list of things to talk to Bo about before she held the ropes open for Bo to climb through, into the ring.

Lauren climbed through after her and then bounced on the balls of her feet. Bo smiled at how cute Lauren was trying to pretend like she knew what she was doing, because it was so rare that the Doctor did anything she didn’t know how to do.

Bo put her gloves up in front of her face, “Are you ready?”

“I guess,” Lauren shrugged and put her gloves up.

“Hey!” Kenzi called when she walked in, “You forgot the baby oil and the fifty middle aged men sitting uncomfortably next to each other with strange feelings in their pants.”

Bo rolled her eyes playfully, “We’re sparring.”

“You have half an hour before I have to escort our good Doctor to ye olde warehouse for a good old fashioned Fae boot camp with Counselor Tam-Tam,” Kenya took her phone out, “Trick put me in charge of Lauren’s schedule.”

“No he didn’t,” Bo told Lauren who was quizzically looking at Kenzi.

“He didn’t expressly say it, but it was implied,” Kenzi sat down on a metal folding chair. “Now are you going to fight or do I get my ones out first?”

Bo and Lauren turned to each other and put their gloves up. Dyson walked in with the promised water bottles, but put them next to Lauren’s bag when he saw what was going on. He leaned his forearms on the ropes and watched carefully.

Bo moved in first, obviously more confident in her fighting skills that Lauren. She barely put any muscle behind her punch, but she managed a solid hit to Lauren’s stomach. Lauren countered with a tap to Bo’s face as she was recoiling. Lauren went for another quick hit, but Bo knocked away the hit and hit Lauren in the side. Lauren winced. Bo dropped her arms, “I’m sorry. Are you okay? It was a reflex.”

“I’m fine,” Lauren tried to reassure Bo, although her side did still sting. She put her gloves back up so that Bo wouldn’t ask her if she was okay again.

“Watch her eyes,” Dyson instructed from the side.

Lauren gritted her jaw and tried to watch Bo’s eyes to see where she’d hit next. However she was finding it more difficult to put into practice. The more hits Bo landed, the more frustrated Lauren got. She wasn’t used to being bad at things and she was especially hard on herself when she wasn’t performing like she thought she should. Finally when Kenzi called time, Lauren was ready to leave the ring.

“Are you okay?” Bo asked, as they took their gloves off.

“I’m fine,” Lauren said lowly as she took off her gloves. “I’m just going to get my ass kicked by whatever is in the Dawning and all the other Fae that already hate me and want to kill me.”

“Hey,” Bo took Lauren’s hands, “I have been doing this for a lot longer than you have. You’re talents are in a lab.”

“And that’s the only place they are,” Lauren swallowed.

Bo took a deep breath and looked deep into Lauren’s eyes. “There have been so many times when I needed your lab powers to get me out of the situations I was in. You have me and Kenzi and Dyson and Tamsin to help you get ready for this okay? You will be in top fighting condition by the time you get your invitation. I promise. You still haven’t really seen what you can do with your abilities anyway. You might not even need to punch anyone.”

“Speaking of which,” Kenzi pointed to her wrist, where a watch would be, “It’s time to go see Tamsin to flex those beautiful powers.”

“You did well today,” Dyson told Lauren, handing her a water bottle.

“Thanks,” Lauren accepted the bottle with a less than enthusiastic tone.

Dyson nodded, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Actually, do you have some free time tonight?” Lauren asked, stopping her march out the door.

Dyson nodded again, “Of course. Do you wanna meet here around eight?”

“That’s perfect,” Lauren gave him a valiant attempt at a smile, “Thanks.”

Kenzi and Bo escorted Lauren into the large empty warehouse where Tamsin was already waiting. Tamsin took off her red leather jacket and tossed it to the side, “I see that you brought your goons.” She eyed Bo and Kenzi, before looking at Lauren, “They gotta go.”

“Why?” Bo demanded.

“A brand new Fae with really intense powers most likely beyond her control?” Tamsin snarked, “There is a reason Trick had us meet in this big ass warehouse in the middle of nowhere.”

“It’s okay,” Lauren assured Bo and Kenzi.

Bo glared at Tamsin, “If anything happens to her, there will not be a drop to Chi left in your body.”

“I’m doing your girlfriend a favor,” Tamsin narrowed her eyes, “I’m taking a huge chunk out of my drinking time to help her figure her shit out before she goes into her Dawning because I don’t trust Dyson to do it.”

Kenzi shifted her weight, “Why not?”

“Give me a break,” Tamsin rolled her eyes and caught Bo’s, “He’s been playing the long game for you. He was just going to wait for human Lauren to die before making his move. But now that there’s a real chance that she could outlive us all, there is no long game anymore. His only chance now is for Lauren to kick it and the best place for that to happen is the Dawning. She’s not going to choose a side, so no weapon and she damn sure isn’t going to let anyone else go in with her now that we all know what happens.”

“Dyson wouldn’t do that,” Kenzi replied viciously. Then she looked at Lauren who looked uneasy and Bo who was just trying to process what Tamsin said. “Right? Bo?”

Bo stuttered, letting the thoughts Tamsin spoke sink in. “I – of course not. Dyson wouldn’t do that.”

“Whatever,” Tamsin huffed. She rolled her eyes and rolled her shoulders, “Get out so we can get the Phoenix on.”

Bo lingered next to Lauren, eyeing Tamsin. She finally kissed Lauren’s cheek and told her, “We’ll be right outside if you need us.”

“I’ll be fine,” Lauren gave her a reassuring smile. She touched Bo’s arm, “I promise.”

Bo nodded, knowing that Lauren probably knew what she was doing. She left with the satisfaction of knowing that Lauren had enhanced healing powers and the ability to rise from ashes so it was unlikely she wouldn’t be able to walk out of the warehouse.

“That was just Tamsin pulling a Valkyrie thing right?” Kenzi asked, sitting on the hood of Bo’s car.

Bo stood in front of her, biting the inside of her cheek. She’d been thinking over what Tamsin said since they stepped outside as well, “Yeah. Of course. Dyson wouldn’t do that.” Bo put her foot on the bumper and looked right at Kenzi, “Right?”

When Kenzi didn’t answer, she climbed up on the hood of the car and looked up at what little of the sky they could see between the two warehouses where she parked. Kenzi laid down next to her and they both looked at the clouds that floated by.

Kenzi squirmed her arm behind Bo’s head and looped her other arm over Bo’s torso, “It’ll be okay, Bo-Bo.”


	7. Chapter 7

“So,” Tamsin looked down at Lauren who was sprawled out on the floor after a surprise attack from Tamsin, “You definitely weren’t ready for that so we have a lot of work to do.” Tamsin offered her hand to Lauren. Lauren took it and Tamsin hefted Lauren to her feet with ease. She watched as the cut across Lauren’s cheek healed and then picked up her jacket. “I’m not going to bore you with the details of your powers because I’m sure you already read all about it.”

Lauren nodded, unsure about Tamsin’s intentions after the surprise attack.

“Phoenixes are powerful,” Tamsin stated and dug around in the pockets of her jacket. “Not as powerful your girlfriend who, let’s be real, is a freak of nature. But you can definitely do some damage.”

“From what I’ve read, Phoenixes are not fighters,” Lauren tilted her head to the side, feeling the effects of Tamsin’s attack lessen.

Tamsin nodded, “That is true, however if provoked and powerful enough, Phoenixes can level entire city blocks.” She extracted a piece of paper from her inside jacket pocket and dropped the jacket on the ground. She tossed the paper to Lauren who watched it fall at her feet before picking it up. She unfolded the paper and saw one of the most gruesome creatures she’s ever seen.

“What kind of underfae is this?” Lauren asked, looking from the picture to Tamsin, “I’ve never seen it before.”

Tamsin crossed her arms, “That is the evil kind of underfae that Phoenixes turn into if they fail their Dawning. You probably don’t know about them because Phoenixes, like Valkyries, with all their many lifetimes of experiences and training rarely fail the Dawning.” Tamsin took a step toward Lauren, “For the record, I will be packing at your Dawning because I’ve seen one of those monsters take out entire villages.”

Lauren looked down at the picture again. She memorized the face of the underfae that could end up coming out of her Dawning. Lauren folded the paper and put it in her pocket. Then she nodded to Tamsin, “What do I need to do?”

Bo was so deep in her thoughts that she almost didn’t see the flash of light that came from the windows near the warehouse roof. Kenzi had fallen asleep, but was jolted awake when Bo jumped out of her arms and took off running to the door. Kenzi jumped over the windshield of the car and knelt in the driver’s seat, grabbing a large dagger that was stashed below it before following.

When Bo ran into the warehouse, her run slowed to a stop when she saw Lauren slowly rising from her knees. Her shirt was ripped in a few places and there were definitely burn marks across the back of it. Tamsin stood a few feet away, frowning. Tamsin yelled, “C’mon on! That is why the Light Fae have been walking all over you! You just stand there and take it!”

Lauren froze in her spot and her head slowly rose up to look at Tamsin. Then suddenly, the fire wings that Bo had seen while they were having sex flared out of Lauren’s back. She launched herself toward Tamsin and hit the Valkyrie with one solid punch to the jaw. Tamsin fell flat onto her back, skidding to a stop, and laid there for a moment. Lauren’s wings folded behind her back, but stayed visible as she walked over to Tamsin.

The Valkyrie had not moved from her place on the floor. “Tamsin?” Lauren grew concerned at the lack of movement. She knelt down and moved her hand toward Tamsin’s closed eyes when they flew open. Lauren found herself with Tamsin’s hand on her neck, squeezing the oxygen from her body. “The Dawning doesn’t play fair.”

Lauren’s hands gripped Tamsin’s wrist as it choked the life from her. Bo started to run toward them, but Kenzi caught her arm. “Hold on.”

Bo frowned, but when she turned back to the two, Tamsin was speaking more gently than before without releasing her grip on Lauren’s throat, “Remember to use your abilities. Get out of your head and into your body.”

Lauren’s wings flared out to their full span before closing around both her and Tamsin, hiding them from Bo and Kenzi’s view with a fiery wall. It took a few seconds, but the flames of the wings flickered and died out revealing Tamsin in a standing position coughing in front of Lauren who was rubbing her own neck.

Tamsin caught sight of Bo. “I think we’re done for today. How about we all go out for a drink?”

Lauren looked down at her shirt and worried a thread hanging off the bottom when clearly she had bigger problems with the shirt, like the fact that there were two huge holes it the back. She looked up at Tamsin, “Are you okay?”

Tamsin nodded, “Always. I’d say you owe me a drink.”

Lauren picked up Tamsin’s jacket and dusted it off, before handing it to Tamsin, “Of course. Shall we go to the Dal?”

“Whatever,” Tamsin shrugged on her jacket, “I’ll meet you ladies there.”

“That was awesome!” Kenzi smiled when Lauren finally looked ready to acknowledge her and Bo.

Lauren smiled back, “Thank you. I don’t really know how to control it, but I’m starting to understand.”

Bo bit her lip and caught Lauren’s hand, “You need a new shirt.”

“Sorry,” Lauren examined the charred shirt that she borrowed from Bo, “I’ll have to start looking for more flame retardant clothing to wear during the Dawning.”

Bo chuckled and stepped up to Lauren. She looked over Lauren’s face and wiped off some dried blood, “You’re amazing.”

Lauren swallowed. She looked down at the ground, still very unsure of her abilities and how they would match up against her Dawning. “Thank you.”

Bo dipped down and caught Lauren’s lips, “Let’s go have a drink to celebrate the close of your first day of training.”

When she agreed, Bo took Lauren’s hand, threading their fingers together as they walked out. Lauren opted to sit in the backseat since the passenger’s seat was usually Kenzi’s. The sun was setting, as they took off toward the Dal. Lauren looked out the window at the passing buildings, but all she could see what the underfae that she could become.

Lauren put on a brave front at the Dal because everyone else was in a celebratory mood. She even agreed to play a game of pool with Dyson. Bo watched with a smile from the bar. She was proud of Lauren. Lauren was a Fae now and she seemed to be handling the whole process well.

It didn’t stop Bo from keeping an eye on Dyson. She knew that Tamsin’s Valkyrie power didn’t work on her which meant that the doubt in her mind was her own. Tamsin was just the first to voice it. As much as she didn’t want to believe that Dyson would sabotage Lauren to keep her from passing the Dawning, she still thought there was a chance that maybe Dyson could. Even if the sabotage was subconscious, it could ruin everything.

Bo turned back to the bar when she saw a shot slide in front of her. Tamsin sat on the stool next to Bo and picked up her own shot. Bo picked up her shot and looked it over. Then she swiveled in her seat to face Tamsin, “What’s this for?”

Tamsin shrugged, “We’re celebrating right? What’s a celebration without tequila?”

Bo raised her shot, “Alright then.”

“To hot blondes that rise from the ashes,” Tamsin smirked and tapped her shot to Bo’s. Bo rolled her eyes at Tamsin’s reference to herself, but took the shot with her.

After the shot, Tamsin stacked the shot glasses and pushed them away. “You know, I knew your girlfriend was smart, but I didn’t think she could ever back that up with a punch.”

Bo grinned proudly, “She’ll surprise you.”

Tamsin tapped her fingers on the bar, “She did.”

“Why are you really helping Lauren?” Bo asked, shuffling the shot glasses again.

Tamsin poured another shot, “The way I see it, I owe you a few favors.” She didn’t even move to offer Bo one of the shots, “After this we’ll call it even.” Tamsin took one of the shots, “Also, if she comes out of the Dawning as an underfae Phoenix, a lot of people will die.” Tamsin took the other shot and stood up. She patted Bo’s shoulder and walked off.

“I’m going to go talk to Dyson for a little while,” Lauren walked up behind Bo and placed her hand on Bo’s back.

Bo looked behind Lauren to see Dyson lingering a few feet back. “Okay,” Bo nodded. She dug in her pocket for her keys and handed them to Lauren, “Take my car. We’ll be here when you get back.”

“Thank you,” Lauren kissed Bo’s cheek before walking out of the door with Dyson sauntering out behind her.

“Can we follow them?” Kenzi hopped up next to Bo, “I really want to know what they talk about.”

Bo shook her head, “As much as I want to know what they’re talking about, this is for Lauren to get all of her life stuff sorted out so she can just walk through the arch.” Bo looked at the empty doorway where they had just walked out of. She stood up, “I’m going for a walk.”

Lauren walked into the empty boxing gym first. She had Bo’s keys in her hand as she walked toward the only light that was still on. The yellow light from the old fixture was enough to make the entire room glow, while only really lighting a small area.

Dyson walked right behind her into the lit area. Lauren looked at the tan metal chairs that were set up around the ring, but didn’t want to sit. She wanted to stand and be strong. She wanted to say what she needed to say.

“I know that you and Trick have basically been waiting for me to die,” Lauren finally said bluntly. “I mean fifty more years would have been easy for you to wait out. That’s only what, fifteen percent of your lifespan. And who knows if I would have lived that long, given the lifestyle that I lead and the dangerous situations I seem to be getting into constantly.” She could see that she was right by the look in Dyson’s eyes.

Dyson didn’t really know what to say. He ducked his head to gather his thoughts then looked back at Lauren. “I respect your relationship.”

“But you still love Bo,” Lauren finished for him.

Dyson nodded. “I do.”

Lauren crossed her arms. “I guess I just needed to know.”

He paced a few steps to the right. Then back toward Lauren. “What do we do now?”

“I don’t have to tell you that Bo is someone to fight for,” Lauren looked Dyson dead in the eyes. He could swear he saw the glow of fire behind them. “I won’t fight to keep Bo, but I will fight to make sure that she’s happy. With whomever she would like to be with. I will fight for Bo’s happiness.”

“As will I,” Dyson agreed.

“Good,” Lauren nodded. Lauren reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small flask. “Drink?” She asked, unscrewing the top. “I found Kenzi’s stash in Bo’s car.” Lauren took a sip before offering it to Dyson.

Dyson took the flask and as a sign of trust the Lauren didn’t poison whatever was in it, took a long drink.

The alcohol helped them loosen up a bit. Dyson offered Lauren a chair, but she moved to the boxing ring. She climbed in, looked around and then sat on the edge so that she could lean forward onto the ropes.

“It strikes me that I don’t know a lot about you,” Lauren looked over at Dyson who had sat down next to her in the ring.

Dyson smiled, “Well it’s a long history.”

Lauren looked at her watch, “I have approximately eight days, give or take.”

That made Dyson chuckle. Then he nodded, putting a hand on his chest, “Well, the first place I ever remember being is Ireland…”

Bo was getting worried after an hour went by. She made her way back to the Dal and decided not to drink anymore. She kept checking her phone for the time until another half hour was added to the initial hour. That was when she pushed away her water glass and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Kenzi asked. She had been sitting next to Bo, as quietly as Kenzi could.

“I’m going to go see where they are,” Bo told her. “They’ve been gone for an hour and a half.”

“And we’re back now,” Dyson announced as they walked in.

Bo turned around and saw Lauren follow Dyson in. Lauren smiled at her, knowing that Bo was about to come looking for them. Dyson hugged Bo, then Kenzi. “I’m gonna go…that way.” He pointed toward the billiard area.

“Is he drunk?” Bo asked.

Lauren smiled and nodded. “We got to talking and then he told me about Ireland. Then we drank all of Kenzi’s stash.” Lauren turned to Kenzi and shook Kenzi’s empty flask.

Kenzi took it from Lauren, “Hey! That was for emergencies!”

“Dyson told me about this Irish Whiskey he used to drink, but he can never find it,” Lauren explained to Bo, “I happen to know a small bodega where they import it so we drove there. Dyson finished the entire bottle of whiskey on the way here, but I manage to save this,” Lauren pulled a small bottle of triple-distilled vodka, “To make up for us drinking your stash.”

Kenzi took the bottle, looked it over and then hugged Lauren, “Thank you! Have I told you that you’re my favorite human turned Fae?”

Lauren just chuckled and watched Kenzi scamper off to find something to mix her new present with. When she turned back to Bo, she saw that Bo was still a little worried.

“Do you want to go talk?” Lauren asked, “Alone?”

Bo nodded. “Let’s go for a drive.”

Lauren took Bo’s keys out of her jacket pocket and handed them to Bo. Bo drove them around until they were in the country. She parked on the side of the road and turned off the car.

Lauren leaned against the back of the seat, “Is this where we make out until the guy with the chainsaw jumps out of the woods?”

Bo toyed with the keys in her hand. She looked hard at the seat before raising her eyes to Lauren, “What did you and Dyson talk about?”

“We talked about the one thing that we have in common,” Lauren honestly answered because she could tell Bo wasn’t in a joking mood.

“Then you got drunk together?” Bo asked, with a quirked eyebrow.

“He got drunk,” Lauren shook her head, “I had a few sips of Kenzi’s car vodka and then we left the gym.”

Bo licked her lips, “So you’re okay now? With Dyson?”

Lauren looked at Bo’s hands that were still fidgeting with the keys, “I think so. I hope so. He’s still in love with you.” Lauren was almost afraid to say it out loud. Part of her always feared that the second Bo found out Dyson was in love with her again, for sure, that she’d run back into his arms. Lauren swallowed hard and forced herself to look into Bo’s eyes, “We agreed that fighting over you would be stupid because you’re going to do what you want to do and we just want you to be happy.”

Bo felt an unexpected swell of emotions. No one had really ever just agreed to let her do what she wanted to do because it would make her happy. And she could see how scared Lauren was, telling her everything. Lauren laid all her cards on the table and made herself completely vulnerable, all in the name of making Bo happy.

Bo scooted closer to Lauren and then placed her hand on the side of Lauren’s neck, gently stroking Lauren’s skin. “You,” she paused to kiss Lauren, “Make me so,” she kissed Lauren again, “happy.”

Lauren smiled into the kiss. She knew they still had things to talk about so she didn’t throw herself into Bo’s kiss like her body wanted. She accepted a few small kisses before pulling away.

“Bo,” Lauren started, but then a star behind Bo’s head caught her eye. Lauren turned and opened her door, “Can we get out and talk?”

Bo nodded and got out of the car. She wasn’t sure why Lauren needed to get out, but she was ready to do whatever she needed to do to make Lauren comfortable enough to have this long awaited talk with her.

Lauren leaned against her side of the car and waited for Bo to walk over. Lauren had her arms crossed, which was definitely not a good sign to Bo. She tilted her head, “Lauren? What’s wrong?”

Lauren had a smile a little at the way Bo could so easily read her. “Um, this whole thing has been really sudden you know? And I don’t think the ramifications have really settled in.” Lauren kicked at the edge of the road with the toe of her boot and then looked up at Bo. Lauren’s eyes fought to cry, but she fought back, trying to say what she needed to get out. “Our relationship was always going to have a definite end because I was human. Living the kind of lifestyle I lead and just being human in general meant that I was going to die long before you. I would have died when you were basically still a Fae teen.”

Lauren’s eyes flickered nervously away from Bo and then went right back to her. “I know that you said were in this for the long haul when the long haul was approximately another fifty years, but now-”

Bo interrupted Lauren with a smile, “I am in for the long, long haul.” She stepped up to Lauren. She didn’t want to put her arms around Lauren just yet. She wanted to just look at her. Bo put her hand on Lauren’s forearm, gently pulling her arms from across her chest. Then she took the flaps of Lauren’s jacket in her hands. “The thing is, I have never imaged my life without you. Now I’m glad that I don’t actually have to live it without you.”

A tear made its way down Lauren’s face. She wiped it away with the back of her hand and dipped her head down. “What about feeding?”

Bo smirked, “Ooh, do we get to do that now on top of the car? Dr. Lauren, you naughty, naughty phoenix.”

“I meant that,” Lauren licked her lips, “There’s not really any reason for you to…” She wasn’t exactly sure she knew the words to explain what she wanted to say.

“Have you tasted you?” Bo asked with a reassuring smile, “I only stepped out to feed because I didn’t want to hurt you. You tasted amazing before, but now you’re kinda spicy. I like it.” She grinned mischievously.

Lauren couldn’t help, but laugh, “Spicy?”

Bo nodded with a full blown smile, “You make Dyson’s nose burn if he sniffs too deep around you.” Bo pulled Lauren into a kiss by her jacket. Lauren was ready to pour herself into the kiss, but Bo had something else to say before they desecrated the hood of her car. “I would love nothing more than to feed off of you and only you for the next thousand years.”

Lauren looked into Bo’s eyes and saw that Bo meant everything she was saying. Lauren put her hands on Bo’s face and gently stroked her cheeks. “I know sometimes we fight, but I always want to come back to you.”

“You will always have me to come back to,” Bo assured her, resting her forehead on Lauren’s.

Lauren let out a relieved smile and finally let herself get lost in Bo’s kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

When they managed to get back to the house, Lauren was exhausted so they just went to sleep, wrapped up in each other. Lauren awoke first and decided to let Bo sleep. The last few days had been hard on her too. So she went to her first session with Dyson and then lunch studying with Hale. Then Lauren had a glorious few hours alone with her lab while Bo and Kenzi spend the day investigating whatever mystery someone brought to them. In her lab, Lauren could confirm without a doubt, all the things that were happening to her.

She liked science. Science was easy for her. Even the challenges were easy because she loved it. She knew science. She tended to a few of her experiments while she still had time. Before she knew it, it was dark outside and she was starving.

Lauren called Bo when she wrapped up her research and sat on her couch.

“Hi, Lo,” Bo answered and then giggled to herself.

Lauren found Bo adorable for trying that again so she grinned, “Hey. Do you and Kenzi want to go out to dinner?” Lauren had seen some dejected looked from Kenzi and knew that Kenzi was feeling left out a little, especially being the only human and because Kenzi had been really vocal about turning Fae. She didn’t want Kenzi to feel like that because that was how Lauren always felt before Bo came into her life.

“Dinner with Lauren?” Bo asked, presumably to Kenzi.

Lauren could hear Kenzi quickly agree and then groan about how she was starving.

“We’ll come pick you up,” Bo promised Lauren before hanging up.

Lauren met them outside in the parking lot and jumped into the backseat.

“How was your alone time?” Bo asked as she took off.

Lauren smiled and caught Bo’s eyes in the rearview mirror, “It was great. I got to check on some compounds that I bonded a few weeks ago. I think it’s going to work out really well.”

Bo couldn’t help, but smile. She knew that Lauren loved her lab. Lauren always got so excited talking about science. This whole Dawning mess was taking a huge toll on Lauren and she was glad that Lauren got to do something she always loved.

“What the hell?” Bo screeched the car to a halt before it hit a man standing in the middle of the road. After a moment to regroup, Bo got out of the car and Kenzi grabbed her emergency hand axe. Lauren hopped out of the backseat behind Kenzi.

“What is your problem?” Bo demanded from the man. “I could have killed you.”

The man reached behind his back and pulled out a light tan, stone mallet. He chuckled menacingly and twirled it around in his hand. “There’s no room for your kind here.” His spiked black hair barely moved in the breeze. The headlights of the car were enough to make out a scar on his face, across his left eye.

“What kind?” Bo asked, looking at Lauren and Kenzi, then back at the man. It was hard to tell who he was after because in their small group there was an unaligned Fae, a human turned Fae, and a snarky human who tended to get mouthy in bars filled with large, dangerous Fae.

The man didn’t say anything. He threw his mallet up in the air. As it rose above him, it started to glow red.

“That’s a dokkaebi,” Lauren whispered to Bo. “He’s useless without his mallet, but it’s very dangerous as long as he has it.”

The Dokkaebi looked up as the mallet turned white, starting its dissent toward him. Bo wasn’t sure what to do, but she put her hands up in preparation for a battle. Kenzi raised her axe, ready to throw it if need be.

However when the mallet fell low enough, the Dokkaebi jumped in the air and kicked the mallet toward the women. It went flying at them at a high speed, floating just below the ground. It was moving too fast for Kenzi to react so she just closed her eyes waiting for the impact. She heard the boom of the mallet striking something, but she wasn’t sure what it was. The instant of the impact she saw sure Bo had thrown herself in front of the mallet to stop it before she opened her eyes, “Bo!”

When she did open her eyes, the only thing she could see was a bright orange light. When her eyes adjusted, she turned her head and saw that she and Bo were tucked into a blanket of fire. Lauren had turned to face them, her wings flaring out before wrapping Bo and Kenzi safely in fire before the mallet could reach them.

Bo looked up at Lauren’s face. Her eyes shone with fire, but blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth. The flames flickered and died away around them, showing the large crater the mallet had made around them. Lauren fell to her knees and grasped her stomach with one hand, while bracing against the ground with the other.

Lauren sputtered and coughed. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, seeing the blood smear across her pale skin.

Bo rushed to her, “Lauren? Are you okay? C’mon we’ll get you back to the Dal. Trick can-”

Lauren shook her head and forced her weak voice out, “I’m fine.” She looked behind her at the Dokkaebi who had just caught his mallet after it was deflected off of Lauren into the air and back down to him. “Get his mallet.”  

Bo didn’t need to be told twice. She looked at Kenzi, “Get her into the car.”

Kenzi nodded and handed Bo her axe before kneeling next to Lauren. She put Lauren’s arm around her shoulders and helped Lauren stand. It was a slow rise, but Lauren managed to support most of her weight.

“Just a few days with Fae powers and you’re already trying to be the hero,” Kenzi gently and teasingly chided Lauren as she opened the passenger’s door of the car.

 Lauren chuckled painfully, “I can see why you and Bo do it so often.” Lauren used her hand to cradle her middle which was radiating pain, “It feels great.”

Bo marched straight up to the Dokkaebi. She didn’t stop when the mallet started radiating white light. She wasn’t worried about that. When she felt she was close enough she threw the axe at the Dokkaebi. His eyes watched it flying at his face. He easily deflected it with a laugh, “It’ll take more than that to-” He realized that Bo had used the axe as a distraction to run up on him.

She was right in front of him as her eyes glowed blue and her hand wrapped around his neck. The chi flew out of his mouth and into Bo’s as she lifted him off of the ground.

“Go get the mallet,” Lauren told Kenzi as they both watched Bo. “Draining his chi isn’t going to stop him as long as he has it.”

Kenzi nodded and ran toward them. As she got closer the mallet started to glow again. The white light was getting brighter and brighter. It was getting hard for Kenzi to look at it as she neared. However, she saw the mallet slowly start to turn toward in the Dokkaebi’s hand getting ready to strike Bo from the side.

Kenzi sprinted the rest of the way and kicked the mallet from the Dokkaebi’s hand. “Ow, ow, ow,” Kenzi limped toward the mallet and started to pick it up. She stopped and took off her jacket, using it to pick up the mallet. The light slowly faded from it and Bo felt the Dokkaebi’s chi started to sputter out. She stopped sucking out his chi and let him fall to the ground.

Kenzi looked over the mallet as she showed it to Bo. It looked old and made of stone with intricate carvings all over it. “This does not look that dangerous from up close.”

Bo looked back at the car. Lauren was still watching, hunched over sideways. Lauren nodded to Bo to indicate she was okay, but Bo could see that she was in immense pain.

“Let’s go,” Bo tapped Kenzi’s arm, “Bring that with you. Lauren or Trick will want it.”

They both ran back to the car and Bo started the engine. She put the car in drive and then pushed the hair out of Lauren’s face, “We have to get you to-”

Lauren chuckled, “The doctor?”

“That is usually what I say isn’t it?” Bo smiled and stroked Lauren’s hair again, trying to provide as much comfort as possible. “You’re going to be okay.”

Lauren nodded. “Based on my research and statistical analysis of-”

“Oh my god,” Kenzi leaned forward over the back seat, “She’s fine.” She shared and smile with Lauren.

“I just need to go lie down,” Lauren told Bo. She leaned back against the door, “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Maybe we should call Trick,” Kenzi dug her phone out of her pocket.

Lauren shook her head, “I’ll be fine. I just need to lie down and rest.”

Bo nodded and ran her fingers through Lauren’s hair, “Of course. Our place is closer if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine,” Lauren answered.

When they got to Bo and Kenzi’s place, Bo helped Lauren to the couch and Kenzi walked in with the mallet. She set it on the coffee table and sat down next to Lauren. “Do you need anything?”

Lauren sat up on the couch, but winced so Bo sat next to her and pulled Lauren’s torso back so that Lauren was leaning over Bo’s lap, ontothe arm of the couch. Lauren leaned over and laid her head on Bo’s shoulder. “Just some water.”

Kenzi hopped over the back of the couch and ran to the kitchen.

“And pizza,” Lauren added from the couch. That was more for Kenzi’s benefit, but Lauren had to admit that she was hungry as well.

Kenzi was all over ordering pizza. Bo, however, had one concern. She put her arm on the back of the couch behind Lauren. She brushed some of Lauren’s hair behind her shoulder and then let her fingers gently graze Lauren’s neck.

Lauren looked over at Bo. “Are you okay?”

Bo dropped her head and smiled, “You should not be asking me that after you got hit with a flying rock hammer.” Bo paused to just look at Lauren’s face, “You saved me and Kenzi.”

Lauren didn’t say anything. She didn’t feel like there was anything really to say. She knew what she did and she would do it over and over again.

Bo leaned forward and kissed Lauren. It was one of the strongest urges she had ever felt. She just needed to kiss Lauren, long and slow. One of her hands found its way into Lauren’s hair, cradling the back of her head. Her lips didn’t want to part from Lauren’s, but Bo wanted to say something. She just didn’t have the words. She rested her forehead on Lauren’s and kept her eyes closed.

Finally Bo pulled back and opened her eyes. She found Lauren’s sharp eyes studying her. Bo smiled, “I am going to be so glad when this whole Dawning thing is over with. Maybe we can take a weekend off and go somewhere?”

“Like a vacation?” Lauren asked with a loving smile.

Bo nodded, “Two whole days, just you and me. A little bed and breakfast in the mountains.” Bo kissed Lauren and hummed, “Three whole days?” She kissed Lauren again, “Seven?”

“A month?” Lauren grinned into Bo’s kiss.

“A year,” Bo kissed Lauren deeper and then pulled away, “We could just buy a bed and breakfast. Live in the mountains forever. You could be the village doctor and I could bartend at a ski lodge.”

Lauren smiled, thoughtfully, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Bo kissed Lauren again.

“Pizza is on its way,” Kenzi sauntered over to the two. She handed Lauren a water bottle and plopped down on the couch. “Do I need to go eat in Bo’s room or are you two going to behave?” She seemed mildly annoyed as she leaned onto the arm of the couch with a huff.

Lauren grinned at Bo and Bo smirked, finally moving her eyes to Kenzi. “We’ll behave, Kenz.”

“Thank you,” Lauren opened the bottle of water and took a long, long drink.

They settled in for an old sitcom. Lauren leaned gingerly on the arm of the couch and Kenzi leaned back against the couch. Bo settled between them and kept her hands on both of them.

As the sitcom went to a commercial, Bo turned to Lauren, “How come you haven’t had a Gathering?”

Lauren bit the inside of her lip while she processed the question. Her eyes wandered aimlessly around the room. “I guess it could be that no one really considers me to actually be a Fae therefore I can’t participate in their rituals. Or both sides just assume that since I was Light owned, I’ll be Light Fae.” Lauren shrugged, “I am more than happy not to have to do it. Killing is not something I ever plan on doing.”

“Well I guess you get a pass this time,” Bo looked Lauren over, “But if there are anymore Fae rituals that we have to do, we can do them together. Unless it’s one of those one goes in and one comes out things.”

“Deal,” Lauren nodded. “Although, after the Dawning, I don’t think there’s really anything left to do, ceremony wise.”

Kenzi was sitting on her side of the couch, trying not to say anything about how stupid she thought it was that she was the only one in the room that didn’t have Fae powers. Especially after Lauren artificially got Fae powers. It wasn’t fair. Kenzi glowered in her seat until the pizza arrived.

When there was only one piece of pizza left in the open box on the coffee table, Lauren stretched. She was surprised that there was no pain and then remembered she was not human anymore and injuries were only a short-term problem. She lifted up her shirt to examine her stomach area. Everything looked normal.

“If you’re trying to flash me, you’re only halfway there,” Bo teased and poked Lauren’s side.

Lauren chuckled and put her shirt down. “It’s not that. I was just checking my injury which doesn’t seem to be an injury anymore.”

“Oh good,” Bo smiled, mischievously. “Maybe I could, uh, pay you back for saving my life back there.” She leaned toward Lauren and captured her lips.

“Okay, if you two are going to keep being all cute like that I’m gonna vom,” Kenzi grabbed the last piece of pizza.

Lauren smiled, breaking their kiss.

“Fine,” Bo stuck her tongue out at Kenzi, “We’ll take this elsewhere.” Bo stood up and took Lauren’s hand, pulling her to her feet. As they walked behind the couch Bo could see that Kenzi was grumpy, Bo dipped down and kissed Kenzi’s head, “Goodnight, Kenzi. We’ll have breakfast tomorrow at that place you love after we drop Lauren off with Hale.”

Kenzi looked up at Bo, trying to decide where this invitation was coming from. Finally she knew it came from a place of sincerity and concern so she nodded, “Okay.”

“Goodnight,” Lauren called as she was being pulled into the bedroom.

Lauren took off her shirt and pants, discarding them in the floor. Bo did much the same and crawled into bed with Lauren. She pulled Lauren into her arms and kissed her gently. Lauren caught Bo’s eyes and saw that there was deep worry in them.

“What’s wrong?” Lauren asked, placing her hand on Bo’s face.

Bo swallowed and then licked her lips, “I got really scared today.” She ran her fingers up and down Lauren’s back.

“Me too,” Lauren nodded, kissing Bo tenderly. She pressed her forehead to Bo’s, “I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.”

“Me?” Bo asked, wide eyed, “You’re the one that took a magical sledgehammer to the – the wings.”

Lauren chuckled, “I did. But I’m okay.”

“You protected me and Kenzi,” Bo looked at Lauren. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank for you for protecting Kenzi. I just froze.” Bo knew why she froze. The mallet was coming at them so fast she would have only been able to get either Kenzi or Lauren out of the way and she just couldn’t make the split second decision to sacrifice one of them to save the other.

“Of course. You don’t have to thank me,” Lauren propped her head up with her elbow and looked lovingly down at Bo, “Kenzi and I have had our issues in the past and I think we still have a few, but none of those would ever lead me to not protect her if I can.”

“I love you,” Bo kissed Lauren.

Lauren moved down toward Bo and kissed her, “I love you too.”

Although Bo was always down for a romp, but she knew Lauren was tired and although Lauren claimed to be healed, Bo could still see Lauren on her knees, gasping for breath and bleeding. She gently slipped her hand under Lauren’s shirt and kissed her neck, “Let’s get some sleep.”

“Mhmm,” Lauren hummed. Then she rolled onto her back, pulling Bo on top of her. “Or we could do this.” She snaked her hand behind Bo and unhooked her bra.

Bo was still thinking about how hurt Lauren was. So she gently asked, touching Lauren’s face gently, “Are you sure?”

Lauren nodded. She pulled Bo down. She pressed her lips to Bo’s. “I’m just gonna be… a little less involved.”

Bo kissed the side of Lauren’s neck. Then the other side, “You can just lay there. I am more than willing to do all the work.”

Lauren chuckled and threaded her fingers into Bo’s hair, “I’ll make it up to you later.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” Bo purred against Lauren’s neck as she slowly moved her hand down Lauren’s stomach, stopping to play with the fringe of her panties.


	9. Chapter 9

Lauren shot out of the bed, waking Bo. Bo sat up and looked next to the bed. Lauren whimpered and then screamed. With the scream came huge flaming wings, expanding to their full breadth.

“What the fuck!” Kenzi yelled from the doorway with a crowbar in her hand.

Bo stood up, facing Lauren, trying to decide what to do. The wings folded across Lauren’s back and she opened her eyes. Her eyes moved to Kenzi. When she was sure that Kenzi was okay, Lauren stretched her back and rotated her shoulders. “Sorry. It was just a dream.”

“Maybe rethink all the material on the bed before Johnny Storm here burns down our very wooden house,” Kenzi sighed and trudged back out the door. She paused in the doorway. She sniffed and turned around, “Why do I smell cinnamon?”

Bo and Lauren both sniffed the air. Bo shook her head, “I don’t smell it.”

Kenzi just shrugged and shuffled out.

Lauren ran a hand through her hair and sat down on the bed, “At least I didn’t burn my clothes off this time.”

Bo smiled and moved to sit behind Lauren. She put her hands on Lauren’s arms and kissed her bare shoulder, “I don’t really mind that part.”

Lauren turned her head to the side and kissed Bo. “I’m going to go talk to Kenzi. I’ve put it off for long enough.”

“Did you have another dream where she stabs you?” Bo asked, very concerned about what it may mean.

Lauren nodded slowly. “I don’t think it means anything.” That was a lie. Lauren was worried about all the things it could mean.

When Lauren walked into the living room, she found Kenzi still awake, watching a black and white movie. She didn’t want to startle the girl, lest she get sliced with a katana so she decided to announce herself, “Kenzi?”

Kenzi was momentarily startled, but turned around to meet Lauren’s eyes, “Oh hey, is Bo sleep talking again?”

Lauren shook her head, “No. I was just wondering if you had a moment to talk.”

Kenzi looked suspiciously at Lauren. However, she muted the TV and patted the seat next to her, “I have all the time in the world.” Something in her voice led Lauren to believe she was being sarcastic.

Lauren walked to the front of the couch and sat down next to Kenzi. Lauren was quiet for a moment, gathering her thoughts. She decided to start with an observation, “I couldn’t help, but notice that you’re a little on edge tonight.”

“So is this part of your karma cleanse before you go through the arch tomorrow?” Kenzi asked.

Lauren looked over at Kenzi who was skeptical. Lauren nodded, “A little bit. Also, I feel like I need to talk to you.” Lauren clasped her hands together, “Things are changing really quickly and I know what it feels like to be left behind.”

Kenzi sputtered, “I am not getting left behind.” She stood up from the couch and walked toward the kitchen. “I am just the only human with enough balls to run with the Fae.”

Lauren ignored the obvious dig at her and just turned around on the couch to look at Kenzi. After watching Kenzi open and close cabinets pretending to look for something, Lauren added, “I know it’s not fair.”

Kenzi shut the last cabinet and took a moment. Then she turned around, finally showing how angry she really was, “You’re right. It’s not fair. I have been kidnapped, held hostage, possessed, bruised, bloody, and shit on as much as you have.” She locked eyes with Lauren, “It could have been me. I could have the cool wings and the healing powers. I should have. You know why?” Kenzi moved back to the couch to confront Lauren face to face, “Because when things got real with Bo, I didn’t leave. You were gone. You broke up with her and broke her heart. I will never leave her so I should be able to protect her.”

Lauren was taken aback by Kenzi’s rage. She felt tears sting her eyes because Kenzi hit all the right chords to hurt her. Lauren blinked away the tears. She licked her lips, “I know it’s not fair, Kenzi.”

“Damn right it’s not,” Kenzi swallowed, really realizing how harsh she was. But she wasn’t going to take it back. She felt everything she said was true. “I know it wasn’t your fault. You were trying to protect me, but…”

“It’s not fair,” Lauren repeated.

Kenzi nodded solemnly. She finally sat back down on the couch, “I talked to Tamsin about it. She knows a druid guy that may be able to turn me Fae.”

Lauren frowned thinking over everything she knew about Tamsin and druids. “That sounds dangerous.”

“Yeah well,” Kenzi shrugged, “I’m the last human here and the new weakest link. You know, I’m getting kinda tired of being held hostage.”

“How about, after my Dawning,” Lauren leaned on the back of the couch with her arm resting across the top, “Supposing that I make it through the Dawning and haven’t come out some monstrous underfae the wipes out the whole city, I will work on making you a Fae. And if I don’t make it, you can go to Tamsin’s druid friend.”

“You’d do that?” Kenzi asked.

Lauren nodded. “I’ve sort of come to think of you as the kid sister I never had – the kid sister that doesn’t like me very much,” Lauren paused. It wasn’t to wait for Kenzi to smile because what she said wasn’t a joke. She had always felt the tension between her and Kenzi. She knew that Kenzi had kept her mouth shut for Bo’s sake. Now there was no reason to pull any punches since they were alone. “I know it’s hard being the only human around. I did it for a few years.”

Kenzi nodded slowly, “Thank you.”

“But you know that I haven’t gotten the warmest reception from the Fae right?” Lauren asked her. She cleared her throat, “Case in point being that nice man who tried to kill us with a mallet.” She gestured to the mallet that was still on the coffee table.

Kenzi nodded, “I get it. A lot of them don’t really like me now so at least I could be able to protect myself.”

“Well, what kind of Fae would you like to be?” Lauren asked, “There are certain kinds that are easier to use than some others, but given the right stem cells which I will gladly extract from any willing participant, I’m sure I could make you whatever you wanted.”

Kenzi thought it over dreamily. She never really though over what kind she wanted to be. She just knew she needed to be a Fae. “I don’t know.”

“We have to also take into account that your Dawning may happen as quickly as mine so training beforehand would probably be the way to go,” Lauren added. She suppressed a yawn and stood up, “We have time to think it over. I’m going back to bed. Big day tomorrow.”

“You’ll do great,” Kenzi assured her and stood up as well. She hugged Lauren, briefly and awkwardly before Lauren went back to the bedroom.

“How’d it go?” Bo asked, sitting up in the bed as Lauren walked back in.

Lauren nodded, “Good.”

“So no problems going through the thingy tomorrow?” Bo asked holding her arms open for Lauren. She glanced at the clock realizing that it was well past midnight, “Later today.”

Lauren crawled into the bed and laid herself on top of Bo so they were both leaned back on the headboard. “Not that I can think of.”

Bo kissed the top of Lauren’s head, “I’m glad you talked to Kenzi. She’s definitely feeling left out.”

“I know,” Lauren nodded. She hoped that Kenzi wouldn’t feel left out for long.

“C’mon,” Bo held open her arms, “Let’s get some sleep before your big day.”

Lauren crawled, into Bo’s arms. She settled into Bo who held her. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Bo kissed the top of Lauren’s head and tucked Lauren’s head under her chin. She took a long, deep breath and closed her eyes, hoping against all hope that the Dokkaebi was the last of their problems.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

“I don’t have any family. Nadia is dead,” Lauren made a mental checklist and started checking them off, “I talked to Bo, Dyson, Tamsin, Hale, and Kenzi.” She inhaled deeply and held it for a moment, “I should be good to go.”

Bo put her hands on Lauren’s shoulders guiding the Doctor into the Dal. She hadn’t been paying attention to where she was walking for a while because she was going over all the things she needed to go over to be able to cross the ritual threshold on the first try.

“You will be fine,” Bo told Lauren. She glanced behind her to see Kenzi ready with a flask in case they needed to liquor Lauren up to get her through the threshold. She had been hesitant to leave the house in the first place.

Bo turned Lauren around before they stepped into Trick’s office, “You’re good with Dyson?”

Lauren nodded, hesitantly. She wasn’t too sure now that she had to have resolved her issues before doing what she was about to do.

Bo continued, “Tamsin?”

Lauren nodded.

“Hale?” Bo asked.

Lauren nodded again.

“Kenzi?”

Lauren glanced at Kenzi, suddenly completely unsure about anything. Kenzi nodded graciously so Lauren nodded to Bo.

“And we’re good?” Bo asked, a little unsure herself.

Lauren took a deep breath, “We’re good.” She paused, “Right?”

Bo kissed Lauren, “We’re good.”

Lauren nodded firmly, “Okay. Let’s do this.”

“Are you sure you don’t want Trick here?” Kenzi asked, following Bo and Lauren into the office where the intimidating arch stood.

Lauren swallowed and looked at the arch, “I’m sure. I have here, who I want here. I don’t want any negative energy in the room and Trick is not my biggest fan.” Lauren took off Bo’s jacket that she borrowed. Kenzi took it from her and gave her an encouraging nod.

“Don’t worry if you don’t make it through. It took me like ten times,” Bo rubbed Lauren’s back as she squared off with the arch, “You can always do it again.”

Lauren nodded and shook out her shoulders. She rolled her neck. “Okay. Okay. I got this.” She looked at the arch and could feel her hands shaking. She took a deep breath and started to step forward. But she froze. She whirled around and swept Bo up in a kiss. Bo tensed up at first, but relaxed, putting her hands on Lauren’s back.

Lauren kissed Bo deeply before pulling away. She dropped one last kiss on Bo’s lips, “For luck.”

Bo grinned and gave Lauren another one last peck, “For luck.”

Then Lauren looked in Bo’s eyes. She stared right into her eyes for a good thirty seconds before she stepped away. She pivoted around and kept walking right through the arch.

On the other side, she turned around and looked at Bo and Kenzi. Kenzi smiled, “You did it!”

Bo seemed a little more shocked, “You did it.” Then she crossed her arms, “With one try.”

“I did,” Lauren shrugged. “It must have been the kiss.”

“So now we wait for the invitation,” Trick’s voice came from seemingly nowhere. He stepped out of the dark hallway and into the light.

“You were here the whole time,” Lauren stated, caught between angry and disappointed.

Trick nodded. “I didn’t watch. I just listened.” He walked over to the arch and put his hand on it as it started to flicker and fade away just in time for the next Fae’s walk through. Trick smiled, “I hate to say it, but I underestimated you.”

“I think at this point it’s a good thing,” Lauren rubbed her forehead and made her way back to Bo.

Kenzi pulled out the ever present schedule, “It’s time to go see Tamsin.”

Lauren nodded, eyeing Trick before she turned and walked out the door. Kenzi quickly followed, but Bo lingered.

“What’s wrong?” Bo asked.

Trick shook his head. “Nothing.”

Bo quirked an eyebrow, “I call bullshit.”

Trick took a deep breath. “More and more Fae are getting wind of the new human-Fae. Some of them are curious, but some of the older generations of some of the more influential clans are getting scared and angry. If you’re going to stay with her, I want you to be careful.”

“Of course I’m going to stay with her,” Bo stated firmly, “I don’t know if you heard, but some dokkaebi attacked me, Lauren, and Kenzi last night and Lauren protected us.”

“She’s not a Fae,” Trick stated evenly.

Bo was becoming enraged with her grandfather, “I don’t care what she is. I’m staying with her and I’ll help protect her. I’ll take her out of town if I need to. But I am not leaving her.”

Trick took a deep breath. “I figured that you’d say that.” He looked up at his granddaughter, “Just be careful. Some of the older generations are the angriest.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Bo stated with finality. She decided that she was done with that conversation and walked out. She found Lauren and Kenzi waiting for her near the bar.

“Anything important?” Lauren asked quietly. She had a feeling that she knew what it had been about.

Bo shook her head. She took Lauren’s hand, “Let’s get out of here.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Where’s Lauren?” Tricked asked, the second Bo and Kenzi walked into the Dal. Dyson, Tamsin, and Hale were sitting around a table behind him, all looking guilty.

“She took the morning off to do something with some enzyme thingies,” Bo answered and put her hands on her hips, “What’s going on?”

Trick gestured to a large machine, old looking machine on a table on the far side of the bar. It had dials and knobs, but nothing that could really be deciphered. It shone with brass and almost took up the entire table.

“What is that?” Bo quirked an eyebrow.

Kenzi looked it over, “It’s all steampunky.”

“It’s an invitation. Lauren’s invitation,” Trick put his hands on his hips. He looked back at the trio sitting at the bar. “The three of them started the test already.”

“We didn’t know what it was,” Tamsin rolled her eyes.

Bo shifted her weight, “But what happens now? She’s not here. Is she being tested already?”

Trick nodded, “Probably.”

“I have to go help her,” Bo started to run out, but Dyson stopped her.

“You can’t,” he said, “She has to do this by herself.”

Bo frowned, “I didn’t have to do mine by myself. I didn’t even do my Dawning by myself.” Bo was getting angry, “And all of you just want to throw her into the deep end by herself to see if she can swim.”

A few people in the room were about to speak, but that was before the invitation machine made a sputtering noise and started ticking.

“What’s happening?” Kenzi asked, leading the charge that was advancing toward the machine.

“It’s starting,” Hale put his hands in his pockets and looked it over.

Bo motioned to the whole thing and asked Trick, “What do we do?”

“If the Fae under training cannot work the invitation, the closest blood relative must,” Trick picked up a tan card laying on top of the machine, “If there is not blood relative, the person whose heart is most like hers.”

Bo blinked, “Me? That’s me right?”

Trick shrugged, “I’ve never seen this before.”

Bo stepped up to the machine and looked at both of the choices, “So I just pick one?” She squeezed both of her hands into fists before unclenching them.

“Yes,” Trick nodded.

Bo reached up for one of the handles to turn it, but when her fingertips reached it, she was shocked. She jerked her hands away, “Son of the bitch!”

“Does that mean that you’re not the person with the heart like hers?” Kenzi asked.

“No,” Dyson stepped up from where he was lingering behind Trick, “I am.”

Everyone just kind of looked at Dyson. He took a deep breath and stepped up to the machine. He slowly reached up and touched the knob that Bo was reaching for. He wrapped his fingers around it and turned the nob so that the machine hissed and then went quiet.

They all just stared at the machine until another set of options popped up. He looked at the screens and saw hazy pictures. One was a scimitar and the other was a musket. He immediately reached forward and turned the knob for the scimitar.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Lauren wasn’t sure how a house call to the one Light Fae elder she actually liked, could go so wrong. She was checking up on the wise, ill Halforn when the large, old house in which he lived was attacked.

There was an explosion downstairs and after seeing a group of masked Fae run in the front door, Lauren ran back upstairs. She closed as many doors as she could as she made her way back to the Halform who was too sick to get out of his bed.

“What is happening?” he asked when Lauren closed the door to his bedroom.

“Someone is breaking in downstairs,” Lauren explained and moved to the window, “A whole group of them.” She knelt down next to her medical bad and dug around. She swore that she put her phone in the side pocket. But she couldn’t find it. Her first instinct was to call Bo or Hale or Dyson, but after rooting around for a few seconds, she couldn’t find her phone.

Lauren could hear the thunderous footsteps get closer as they small team swept the downstairs. She looked at the aged man in the bed, “Do you have a weapon?”

The elder Fae frailly reached over and opened the nightstand drawer. He pulled out a revolver.

Lauren nodded, “Okay. You stay here.”

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I’m going to see what they’re doing,” Lauren told him. She assured him, “I’m not going far. Is there another way out?”

“There’s some servants stairs that go outside,” The Halform sat up in his bed with great difficulty and offered Lauren the revolver, “Take this.”

She shook her head, “I’ll be right back.” She looked around the room. “Lock the door. I’ll be right back.”

He seemed to know that he wasn’t going to be able to stop her so he nodded. He slowly rose up and made it way to the window. He leaned against the wall next to it and peered outside, “I’ll keep watch up here.”

Lauren nodded firmly and silently opened the door that lead into the grand bedroom. Lauren could hear them talking downstairs. It wasn’t a language that she understood, but at least it told her where they were.

She moved down the hallway with silent steps. The first doorway she came upon was what looked to be a library. She was just going to walk past it when she saw a scimitar mounted as decoration on the wall. Lauren quickly walked into the room and picked it up, happy to finally have some kind of weapon other than her fire wings which were really useless from a distance and rather unpredictable still.

The scimitar felt oddly weighted in her hand, but she kept moving toward the staircase.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

 “Nothing can happen to her,” Bo looked up at Dyson with tears in her eyes. “I’ve waited so long to have her back.”

Dyson swallowed the lump in his throat. He never had felt like he’d lost Bo. He always had the long game, but now there was no long game and Bo was desperately holding onto Lauren.

Dyson turned to the machine and saw two options. He squinted at them, “Eyes or Mouth.”

With a heavy heart, Dyson turned the lever under the Eyes.

+=+=+=+=+=+=

Lauren peered down the staircase. She could hear them moving around. She even caught a glimpse of one of them walking past the foot of the stairs. She saw the of shaggy brown hair as one of the assailants stopped at the foot of the stairs to look around. When he ruffled his hair she could see a tattoo at the base of his neck.

Lauren moved back to the safety of her side of the railing, going through what that tattoo meant in her mind. Finally her mental index stopped at a Dark Fae clan of Lupercus, who liked to hunt in packs. Lauren heard one of them start to walk up the stairs and knew that she had to find a way to get the Light Fae Elder out of the hands of the Dark Fae rogues.

“Llan,” Lauren said softly against the bedroom door.

The locks clicked back and he opened the door, breathing heavily like it was a great labor.

Lauren stepped in and looked behind her at the staircase down the hall, “We have to get out of here. There’s a pack of Dark Lupercus downstairs.”

Llan nodded gravely, knowing that it would be very dangerous if they were have an encounter with them, especially because he was almost completely incapacitated and Lauren was just learning to use her abilities. “The servant’s staircase is at the other end of the hallway.”

Lauren readjusted her hold on the scimitar and helped Llan put his arm around her shoulders. They were quietly making their way down the hallway when Lauren’s eyes started to go blurry. She blinked and then blinked again trying to get them to refocus. However, it only seemed to make her vision worse.

“What’s the matter?” Llan whispered, noticing that Lauren had slowed down.

“I- I can’t see,” Lauren blinked rapidly, but found that she couldn’t see anything anymore. Panic started to set in when she reminded herself of all of the Fae things that could be going on with her. There were any number of crystals or Fae themselves that could be causing this to happen to her. She just took a deep breath, “C’mon, we have to keep moving.”

They kept moving toward the servant stairs. Llan was using Lauren as a crutch to walk and Lauren was using him as a guide to move along the corridor. Llan opened a door that looked to be a closet and told Lauren that they were at the stairs. She nodded and felt with her foot the drop to the first step down. She moved slowly because if she fell, she would take Llan with her.

The air in the staircase smelled musty, but they slowly made their way down, making sure to keep an ear out for the pack that was hunting them. “Almost there,” Llan murmured to Lauren.

Lauren had thought about abandoning the scimitar in the stairwell, but knew better of it. It was just getting difficult to walk down the stairs, support Llan, and hold onto it. However the motion of moving down uniform stairs was mechanical, and given enough repetition, Lauren felt she would be fine making it the rest of the way down. As she was thinking this, she was taking hurried steps down. Her heel barely caught the edge of the next step, but her balance moved forward and slipped so that her foot came down two stairs below with a thunderous pound. She managed to keep Llan upright, but when they both paused to take stock of themselves, she heard the crashes and booms of a pack of Lupercus running toward them.

“We must hurry,” Llan told Lauren, as they started to make their way down again.

Lauren kept her eyes open although it seemed no use. She could hear the footsteps growing closer and feared for what that meant. She made a move to step down another stair, but found that they were on level ground. She paused when Llan did and hear the creaking of door hinges. “Are we outside?” she asked. She wished that they were, but could the damp, mildew filled air of somewhere underground.

“Not yet,” Llan said. He started to move to his right, pulling Lauren with him. “There’s still this tunnel.”

Lauren was surprised to start to be able to see blurry outlines of shapes again. She managed to make out the tunnel they were walking through. She could see some kind of doors ahead of them, letting light sparsely leak through. Then she glanced behind them, up the stairs. She could see the outline of the Lupercus pack flinging open the door and running down the stairs toward them.

When Llan opened the door to the outside, Lauren was blinded yet again. This time the flood of light overtook her sight and her already compromised eyes became useless.

“Come. We must close the door,” Llan pivoted, forcing Lauren to do the same. As she was helping Llan shove the door closed, she felt a handle. Using her hands, she felt up the frame of the door and found another, similarly shaped handle.

“Can we put this through here?” Lauren asked, presenting Llan the scimitar, while keeping her other hand on the two handles next to each other.

“Brilliant,” Llan put his hand on the outside of Lauren’s and help her wedge the irregularly shaped sword through the handles of the two wooden doors that lead to the tunnel under the house.

Lauren jammed her hand in her pocket and felt her keys, “Let’s go to my car.” As she said that, she felt Llan stumbling next to her. “No, no, no c’mon, Llan. It’s just up here.” Her eyes started to adjust to the light and come into focus again. She could hear Llan’s labored breaths.

He fell to his knees, pulling Lauren with him. “Go on. They only want me.” Llan panted heavily and clutched his chest.

Lauren glanced behind them. She could hear the pack banging on the wooden doors. She knew that the door would break before the scimitar would, but she wasn’t sure of the sturdiness of the doors to begin with. She pulled out her keys and ran to her car. She fumbled around with the ignition and then turned the car over.

She made sure to keep Llan’s large, dark figure in her sight as she eased the car forward, onto the grass of the grand lawn. She pulled to a stop next to him and got out.

“I told you to leave me,” Llan told her, weakly. “I can’t get up.”

“With all due respect,” Lauren knelt down, her knee planted firmly in the damp grass. “Shut up.” She opened the backseat door of her car and hefted Llan into the backseat with strength she didn’t know she had. It seemed telling Llan to shut up was moot because he had passed out as she put him in the backseat.

She was checking his pulse to make sure he was still alive when she heard the door to the tunnel being obliterated. She heard the howl of the alpha as the Lupercus ran out after them. When she managed to focus on them, she found her sight was improving exponentially and seemingly by the second. She jumped into the driver’s seat and swerved, to the left and down the long driveway, hoping to leave the vicious pack behind her.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

“Is this what is feels like to everyone else when I’m doing ritual things because I don’t like it,” Bo sipped her martini, which was not calming her in the least. Bo looked back over her shoulder at the machine that Dyson was pacing in front of.

Kenzi sat next to Bo for moral support. “Basically.”

Bo picked up her phone and called Lauren again, only to get her voicemail. “I feel so useless.” She huffed and put her head on the bar.

Dyson heard the machine start running again before anyone else. He turned to the machine before anyone else knew what was making the weird noise. The two glasses which presented Dyson his choices became opaque before them. The grey smoke rippled in the glass and then revealed what Dyson had to choose from.

“Water or air,” Trick murmured as everyone gathered behind Dyson to look at what had been offered.

It only took him a second to decide and turn the lever.

“You chose water?” Kenzi asked, intensely surprised, “She’s a phoenix. Her wings are made of _fire_. Water puts out fires.”

“I’m supposed to go with my instinct,” Dyson stated. He crossed his arms and started pacing again.

“Is this the ‘eliminate the competition’ instinct?” Tamsin said angrily. “Because that seems to be where this is going.”

“Hey,” Hale stepped in between Tamsin and Dyson, “I’m sure he’s doing what he thinks is best for Lauren. Anyway, why do you care?”

Tamsin crossed her arms defensively, “I have eight days of work into that Phoenix. I have bruises on my ribs, and I have missed two nights of drinking, fighting with the doctor. I’ll be damned if she dies before she gets to her Dawning.”

For once Bo didn’t know what to say. She wanted to defend Dyson, but Tamsin was making a lot of sense. Her heart told her that Dyson wouldn’t do something underhanded, but her head told her that it would be a logical plan of someone who wanted to win her back.

Luckily, Kenzi noticed this and took charge. “Everyone just shut up. There isn’t anything we can do about it now. Lauren is going to take care of the shit and come back here and we’ll all have a drink. Okay?” Kenzi looked around. When no one said anything she added, “Dyson is doing his best. Lauren is doing her best. Everything will work out.” She looked at Bo, hoping that that sunk in for her.

=+=+=+=+=+=

Lauren drove as quickly as she could, watching the black SUV follow closely behind them. She glanced over at the passed out elder in the seat behind to her. She knew that if she didn’t get out of this with him alive, more than just a few Light purists would be out for her head.

That is if she could make it away from his mob alive.

With her eyes on the road, Lauren searched for some other way to go so that she could make a series of moves to hopefully lose the Fae. She was looking for another paved road to turn down, or perhaps another motorist to seek help from.

But suddenly a tree fell across the road. Lauren swerved and were forced onto a small dirt road to the left. It was bumpy, but she kept her foot on the gas, knowing that the Fae behind her were doing the same.

She looked in the rear view mirror and saw that she was starting to lose them. Their large vehicle was having trouble dodging the low hanging tree branches.

But before she could feel any relief, her eyes met with the massive river flowing in front of her. She slammed her foot on the break and jerked the wheel to the side. The car skidded, then went into a full slide toward the river. Lauren turned into the skid and eventually the car came to a rest on the edge of the river. When she looked out the window, she saw the SUV moving toward them. She had a few hundred feet before they reached her, but knew that she was cornered. 


	11. Chapter 11

Dyson stared at the head and the heart for a long moment. He took a deep breath and tried to summon his wolf to guide him. He glanced at the timer and knew his time was running out. He needed to pick one.

“Time’s running out,” Kenzi said peering over his shoulder.

Bo stood next to him and watched his face, trying to figure out what he was thinking. No matter how much she fought them, Tamsin’s words still resonated with her. She kept trying to push them away, but they kept leaking back into her brain.

Dyson huffed and reached up, then hesitated. The sand in the glass was moving faster so he had to just twist a lever and stop thinking about it. He threw his hand out and pulled the lever as the last grain of sand fell. The picture of the heart lit up the room with a single blinding flash before dying away.

Kenzi rubbed her chest, “That was weird.”

Tamsin looked over at Kenzi and then met Bo’s eyes. She felt it too. It was like a tiny shock to their own hearts. Bo looked at Dyson and asked, “What was it?”

Dyson just shrugged, “I have no idea.” He rubbed his chest over where he felt the shock.

Trick looked between all the people in the room, “I didn’t feel anything.”

Hale stepped back in from making a phone call in Trick’s office, “I didn’t feel anything either.”

Kenzi was still trying to wrap her brain around being shocked by a machine across the room. “Does anyone else feel more empty inside?”

Bo put her hand on Kenzi’s shoulder. “It’s okay.” She reassured Kenzi even though she felt a sense of dread tying up her stomach in knots.

+=+=+=+=+=+

Lauren got out of the car, hoping to distract the pack from Llan who was helplessly passed out in the backseat. They pulled to a stop a hundred feet behind her and got out of their SUV. There were five male Lupercus, all partially morphed and ready to fight.

Lauren took off her jacket and tossed it onto the hood of her car. She closed her eyes and focused like Tamsin had taught her to. She felt the wings sprout from her back. She forced them to span their full breadth, hoping that it would scare away the pack.

She was out of luck. A few growled, a few whimpered, but they all started their slow march toward her.

Lauren looked around and knew that there wasn’t an escape. If she was going to get out alive, she was going to have to fight her way out. She summoned everything that Tamsin had taught her and everything Dyson taught her. Lauren knew that her wings didn’t allow her to fly, but they helped her jump higher and run faster. She knew how to hit and she knew how to kick using her wings to help power through. She knew how to watch for attacks. She knew she was smarter than the pack and she planned to use everything she knew to her advantage.

Some of the pack seemed hesitant after she flexed her wings so she decided that best defense was a quick offense while not all of them were ready. She wanted to catch them off guard. She gritted her teeth and ran at them. They seemed shocked, but a few of them were ready. With the howl of the hunt, the Lupercus that were ready lead the charge into the fray.

Lauren felt a surge through her body. It was like Bo was with her. It was like Tamsin was yelling at her to get to do better. It was like Dyson was standing behind her, quietly telling her how to approach it the situation. It was like Kenzi was slipping a weapon into her hand because she secretly cares. She could feel all of them with her as her eyes glowed with flames. She pushed off of the ground and aimed for the alpha.

+=+=+=+=+=+

Dyson touched the machine waiting for his next choice. He looked it over and watched carefully incase the time he had to choose was lessened. He knew this wasn’t a burden that he could just ignore. He was going to be vigilant. He was going to make sure Lauren was safe, not only for Bo’s sake, but because Lauren was his friend. The wolf in him would never betray someone who had not only helped him on many occasions, but become an actual friend.

Suddenly, a pain shot through his chest. He howled in pain and felt his face morph into a partial wolf. He growled and screamed as everyone looked on, terrified.

“Dyson!” Bo yelled, “What’s wrong?”

He fell backwards and only then did the pain subside. Everyone moved to help him up, but he ignored their hands and rolled onto his stomach, then pushed up onto his hands and knees. He shook his head and panted, his face morphing back to normal, “Lauren’s hurt.”

“That’s it,” Bo ran back to the bar. She grabbed her keys, “I’m going to find her.”

“You don’t know where she is,” Tamsin told Bo, catching the Succubus’s arm as she tried to walk out the door.

Bo yanked her arm away from Tamsin, “I’ll find her.”

“Bo,” Trick walked over to her, “This is her invitation. This is her rite of passage.”

Bo shook her head, “It’s stupid. She’s only had a few days to train and she’s hurt. I’m going to find her.”

A screech broke the tension. It was followed by frantic yelling, “Bo! Dyson!”

“Lauren,” Dyson muttered as he quickly bounced to his feet and followed Bo outside.

Lauren’s car was parked crookedly in the alley. Lauren was on the other side of the car, helping a semi-conscious Elder Llan out of the backseat. Dyson was quicker into action than Bo. He immediately recognized the Elder and sprang into action. He hopped over the hood of the car and put Llan’s other arm around his shoulders.

Dyson was also the first to notice the blood streaked and pooled on Lauren’s shirt. “Hale,” Dyson called. Being the friends that they were, that was all he needed to say. Hale ran around the car, reliving Lauren of her half of Llan.

“He needs to lie down,” Lauren instructed. She pushed the hair out of her face, accidentally smearing her hand with hidden blood in her hair, and leaned on the car with her other hand. She felt faint, but she was trying to focus on making sure Llan was taken care of. She was having a hard time catching her breath. As she took her first step toward the door of the Dal, her knees buckled. Bo caught her and put Lauren’s arm around her shoulder, “Are you okay? What happened?”

Lauren looked over and saw Bo staring at the blood on her shirt. She tried to wave it off, “It’s not all mine.” She took a deep breath, “I have to get to….Llan.”

“Trick will take care of him,” Bo said gently, helping Lauren into the Dal.

“Holy shit,” Tamsin inhaled when she saw Lauren.

Lauren smirked, sloppily, “You should see the other guys.” She was feeling lightheaded and airy. Her buckled again and this time, Tamsin jumped to her other side to keep her upright.

Kenzi could see that Bo was distraught and not really sure what to do or say. Kenzi understood and decided to take over. “Lay her down on the table,” Kenzi walked in front of Bo and Lauren, sweeping everything off of the table with a crash. “Get her shirt off,” Kenzi ordered, “It looks like she’s still bleeding.”

Bo ripped Lauren’s shirt off and was horrified to see deep scratches all up and down her torso. Without the distraction of the bloody shirt, she could see a long deep cut on the side of Lauren’s neck.

“I’m fine,” Lauren weakly tried to fight off Bo wadding up her shirt and using it to stop the blood.

“Phoenix or not,” Tamsin told Lauren, “You got fucked up. Let us help.”

“You need to stop the bleeding,” Lauren tried to keep herself from passing out. “And I need to stay awake.”

Bo had gotten over the shock of seeing Lauren covered in blood and she pressed Lauren’s ruined shirt into her largest wound on her torso, “Tamsin, get more towels. Kenzi go see if Trick has a first aid kit or something.”

Both women walked off to get their respective supplies. Bo kept pressure on the wound with one hand. Her eyes traveled down to the ripped jeans on Lauren’s lower body, wondering if there was anything she needed to worry about down there. Bo pulled her attention back to Lauren’s upper body and then stroked Lauren’s hair, “So why don’t you tell me how you got all these claw marks all over you?”

Lauren lulled her head over toward Bo, “A pack of Dark Fae Lupercus attacked Llan’s home.” She looked behind Bo, “And I see from that large machine over there that it was part of my invitation test.”

“Why do the Fae have to make things so complicated?” Bo joked, “Why can’t they just mail it?”

“What’s that paper on it?” Lauren asked.

Bo left Lauren momentarily to pick up an envelope. She looked it over and recognized the writing on the outside, “Your official invitation to your Dawning, Dr. Lewis.”

Lauren took the envelope from Bo. She looked it over, but didn’t open it. She tossed it onto an adjacent table. She groaned when Bo moved the shirt to get a better look at her wound.

Tamsin returned with the towels and Kenzi came back with a bottle of whiskey. Bo almost chided her for drinking at a time like this, but Lauren told her to pour it on her wounds so that when they healed they wouldn’t get infected.

“This is gonna hurt like a bitch,” Tamsin told Lauren. “Hold Bo’s hand while I pour it.”

Bo got down onto her knees so that her face was next to Lauren’s. She kissed Lauren, “You did amazing.”

“I could have done better,” Lauren gritted her teeth as Tamsin sterilized some of her smaller wounds.

“You passed and you’re alive,” Bo stroked Lauren’s hair and kissed her forehead, “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

Tamsin actually felt bad for inflicting so much pain on Lauren. She decided to help distract her, “This looks like wolf-shifter or Lupercus.”

“Lupercus,” Lauren confirmed.

Tamsin smiled, “Did you use that flying thigh lock I showed you?”

“First thing,” Lauren smiled, painfully back.

Tamsin grinned as she poured some whiskey on Lauren’s largest wound. “Nice.”

Lauren squeezed Bo’s hand and whimpered, squirming like she was trying to get closer to Bo. Bo stroked her hair and kissed her forehead, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I need the alcohol to sterilize the wound so that it doesn’t get infected,” Lauren said, “Did you know that alcohol can also kill the tissue around the wound creating a temporary feeling of relief?”

Kenzi smiled widely, “She’s geeking out already. I think she’ll be fine.”

Tamsin looked more closely at the wounds, “You’re healing more slowly because you have so many wounds, but you’re healing.”

Lauren nodded. “I figured as much. It could also have something to do with my Dawning approaching and the dying of my cells.” She started trying to sit up, “I have to check on Llan.”

“No, babe, you need to just lay here,” Bo tried to gently keep her lying down.

Lauren shook her head, “Llan is the only Light Fae Elder that ever treated me as a person and not a pet. I have to go check on him.”

Bo relented and helped Lauren up, knowing that she couldn’t stop Lauren anymore without hurting her further.

“What did you do to your bra?” Kenzi asked.

Lauren’s bra was barely holding on from all the scratched and the burn marks on the back. She looked down. “I need a shirt or something.”

Bo took off her jacket and offered it to Lauren. “It’s gonna get blood on it,” Lauren shook her head, trying to push it away.

Bo just smiled, “It’s okay. I have other ones.” She helped Lauren put it on and zip it up.

They walked into the back of the Dal where Llan was lying across the couch with a blanket over him.

“He’s sleeping now,” Trick explained to Lauren as she checked all of Llan’s vital signs.

Lauren nodded. She put her hands in the jacket pockets, leaning against Bo to stay upright. “He’s not hurt. Just sick. He needs to rest.”

“He can rest here as long as he needs to,” Trick told Lauren. He put a hand on her back, “I’ll take care of him. You can go home and rest yourself.”

Lauren tucked some hair behind her ear, “I think I’ll have a drink first.”

Trick smiled, “Help yourself. You did well.”

Lauren accepted a rare compliment from Trick with a nod, then walked out. Bo followed Lauren back into the bar and stood next to her. She felt like she was being the helicopter girlfriend, but she was worried. For all she knew Lauren was still bleeding.

“Who worked the invitation?” Lauren asked, sitting down at the bar.

“I did,” Dyson spoke. He was leaning against a wooden pillar with his arms crossed, just waiting to see how Llan was before leaving.

Lauren looked over the invitation and nodded. She walked over to the machine and picked up the first card that was placed on the machine, “If there is not blood relative, the person whose heart is most like hers.” Lauren licked her lips and looked from the paper. “A heart like mine. A heart for Bo.” She turned the card over in her hand thoughtfully. She put it back down and walked over to Dyson. She slowly hugged him which he readily reciprocated. “Thank you.”

Dyson nodded in acknowledgment and gently rubbed her back. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

Lauren walked back to the bar and finished the scotch in her glass. “I’m going to go home and lie down.”

Bo followed Lauren out the door and caught up with her. She didn’t want to say anything at first. They walked to Lauren’s car, but Lauren hesitated before getting into it after she opened the driver’s side door. She changed her mind and closed the door.

Bo seemed to understand. She could see the large pool of blood in the driver’s seat. “C’mon I’ll drive you home.”

Lauren looked down at the pavement with the car between them. Then she looked up at Bo, “Can we go to your place?”

“Of course,” Bo nodded.

Lauren went straight to the shower when they got to Bo and Kenzi’s house. Kenzi decided to go have dinner with Hale so that Lauren and Bo could have some cool down time.

Bo walked into the bathroom to give Lauren a clean towel. She could see against the shower curtain that Lauren’s head was bowed reverently under the spray of the water. Bo felt her stomach get tight. That wasn’t the stance of someone that just got their invitation to their Dawning. That was Lauren feeling defeated or guilty or downtrodden or anxious.

Bo set the towel on the sink and disrobed. She silently stepped into the shower behind Lauren. At first she was unsure of what to do now that she was in the shower with her, but she remembered that she knew Lauren, deeply and intimately. She knew Lauren and she loved Lauren. Bo stepped up behind Lauren and folded her arms up Lauren’s torso, letting her hands gently grip Lauren’s shoulders. Bo dropped her head and kissed Lauren’s shoulder. Then she gently kissed Lauren’s neck.

It wasn’t sexual. It was comforting. Bo rested her chin on Lauren’s shoulder and just held her.

Lauren, who was having problems keeping it together, just crumbled. There were no tears. She just lost the ability to feel anything but a deep crushing weight on her.

Bo gently turned her around so that she could see Lauren’s face. She had seen Lauren’s tears before. She had seen her sad, scared face, but what was in front of her scared her more than anything else. It looked like Lauren was giving up.

Bo looked away from Lauren’s face, down her body to the wounds that were slowly healing. There were less wounds than before, but the biggest wound was still present. Bo wasn’t a doctor, but she knew there was something that she could do to fix it.

Bo took Lauren’s face in her hands and lifted Lauren’s chin. She kissed Lauren, slowly and sensually. Lauren felt herself getting stronger. She felt herself healing. Bo was giving her all the chi she needed to heal.

Lauren knew that Bo would give until she passed out, so she pulled away when she felt mostly healed. Bo wavered, but Lauren caught her.

Lauren smiled softly and shook her head, “You didn’t have to do that.”

Bo smiled and used Lauren to steady herself. “I’ve been feeling really useless lately, but that is one thing I can do.”

Lauren kissed Bo. She hoped that Bo would take back what she needed to feel okay, but she couldn’t feel anything leaving her. She knew Bo wouldn’t feed off of her while she was still in the state she was in. Lauren kissed Bo deeply, trying to convey how much everything Bo was doing meant to her. Lauren didn’t move away to mumble against Bo’s lips, “I love you.”

Bo broke away to look to Lauren’s face, into her eyes, “I love you too.” Bo dropped a peck on Lauren’s lips, “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She wrapped her arms around Lauren and just pulled their bodies together under the warm water. She didn’t want to admit how scared she was. If that was challenge of Lauren earning her invitation, she had no idea the horrors and trials that Lauren’s Dawning had in store.


	12. Chapter 12

Bo held Lauren’s shaking hand all the way from the car into the Dal. Bo opened the door for Lauren, but when Laure could see inside, her grip tightened. The Dal was packed. There were Fae from both sides drinking, playing billiards, and just hanging out. “What’s going on?” Bo asked, the small group of people with her.

Lauren heard someone whisper, “There she is,” before the room fell silent. All eyes moved to Lauren. She looked around, meeting a few pairs of studious eyes before looking away.

“Hey!” Kenzi yelled, “Nothing to see here! Go back to your drinks.”

Lauren tried to hide behind Bo as they walked toward Trick’s office. She caught a few of the eyes of the bar patrons and saw money being placed on the tables. Tamsin and Dyson followed behind Bo, Lauren, and Kenzi, making sure that no one was going to try to stop Lauren. There had been threats on Lauren’s life if she went through with the Dawning and her friends were not going to let anyone carry out their threats.

“What the hell is going on out there?” Bo demanded when they walked into Trick’s office. “There are at least a hundred people out there. I thought this was a sacred ritual.”

Trick stood up. “They were here when I got here. It seems that this is become the spectacle of the season.” He looked to Lauren, “I’m sorry.”

“I just want to get this over with,” Lauren stated with an emotionless shrug.

Bo was getting angry, “She should be treated just like every other Fae.”

“But she’s not like every other Fae,” Trick quipped. It sounded mean to say, but it was the truth.

Lauren dropped her head, “Bo, it’s fine.” She could feel herself getting weaker so she just decided to go. “I want to go now.”

The group moved out into the main room of the Dal. Tamsin, Dyson, and Hale stood behind Lauren, Bo, and Kenzi as a sort of security team to make sure Lauren was going to be able to walk into her Dawning without someone trying to stop her.

When the doorway to the Dawning started glowing, a silence filled the room full of people. Everyone’s eyes were on Lauren and she could feel every single one of them.

Trick walked over to the table of weapons next to the glowing doorway. He picked up the scroll and cleared his throat as he unrolled it. “All knowing, the initiate enters willingly into the sacred ceremony. Do you accept the invitation?”

Lauren looked over at Bo who gave her a reassuring smile. Lauren turned to Trick, “I accept.”

“The time has come for you to choose an aid to take with you into the Dawning, but you may not choose a weapon until you choose a side,” Trick looked over the table of weapons. He was still holding out that Lauren would pledge her allegiance to the Light.

Lauren swallowed and firmly stated, “I choose no side.”

There was a general rumble in the audience behind her. Kenzi pulled a dagger out of her belt. She gripped it hard in her hand and shifted her weight. She and Lauren had had her differences, but she wasn’t going to let some Fae purists stop Lauren from her Dawning.

Lauren could see money changing hands in her peripheral vision. They had been betting on every aspect of her Dawning.

Trick nodded, “Be it witnessed, the initiate chooses to enter the Dawning unarmed.” Trick rolled up the scroll and placed it on the table. He walked over to Lauren and pulled her into a hug, “Good luck.”

Lauren smiled, glad that Trick was at the very least wishing her well. Lauren made her way around her group, hugging Kenzi, Tamsin, Dyson, and Hale before stopping in front of Bo.

Bo licked her lips, “It’s not too late to pick a side. There are some pretty sweet looking blades over there.”

“You know I can’t do that,” Lauren replied softly.

“I know,” Bo spoke softly so that only Lauren could hear her. “I’ll-I’ll be right here when you get back.”

Lauren touched Bo’s face, “I’ll be back.”

Bo surged forward and kissed Lauren. She pushed as much chi at Lauren as she could until she felt light-headed. Lauren was thankful for Bo’s help. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could stave off the degrading effects the Dawning was having on her.

“For luck,” Bo added one last kiss before allowing Lauren to leave her hands.

Lauren smiled, “Thanks.”

“I love you,” Bo stated as Lauren started to turn around.

Lauren looked back over her shoulder at Bo, “I love you too.”

Trick gestured to the bowl of flowers on the ground next to the bowl of water. She was to selected a flower to place into the water that would fully open up the Dawning doorway. Lauren looked down at the flowers and picked up a bright blue one that reminded her of Bo’s eyes when she was using her powers. She was glad that the tingle on her lips was still there, reminding her that she was not only fighting to beat the Dawning, she was fighting to get back to Bo.

Lauren gently plucked the flower up and placed it in the water. The doorway opened completely and Lauren stepped up on the stage. She looked behind herself at Bo, then Kenzi who gave her a nod of solidarity. Then she looked to Tamsin, the Dyson, Hale, and Trick, then back to Bo. She saw Bo take Kenzi’s hand, presumably for comfort. Then Lauren looked at the multitude of Fae behind her friends. The ones betting against her and the few betting in her favor. She made eye contact with a few. One was still munching on peanuts with a wicked smile on his face, one looked sympathetic, one looked upon her with a look of pure contempt.

“Dyson,” Lauren turned all the way around.

Dyson looked up at her, surprised.

Lauren hopped off of the stage and walked right up to him. She reached over and pulled Tamsin over to her little huddle as well and motioned for Hale to come over.

Lauren first directed her instructions to Dyson and Hale, “Watch Kenzi. There are a lot of Fae in this crowd that are purists. I’m a human turned Fae so I’m a pariah. I don’t want any of them taking it out on Kenzi. Bo is going to be too distracted to really watch her.”

Dyson nodded, “Of course.”

Hale agreed as well, looking over Lauren's back to see Kenzi, anxiously looking around.

Then Lauren turned to Tamsin and pulled her out of earshot. “If something happens to me, make Bo keep going. She’ll avoid her feelings as long as she can and it will hurt her and probably everyone around her because she’s-our, she’s our heart.”

Tamsin nodded, solemnly. “Okay.”

“Lauren,” Bo called. She had respected Lauren’s secret meeting, but wanted one of her own.

Lauren walked over to Bo. Bo kissed her again, this time not having any chi left to give. This was a kiss of desperation. Bo always showed her affection physically. That’s what she was good at and that’s what she was made for so this kiss conveyed a rousing chorus in Lauren’s mouth of ‘just come back to me’.

Lauren understood what Bo was saying. She hugged Bo to her after the kiss was broken. “See you in a little while.”

Bo smiled against Lauren’s shoulder, “I’ll have a drink waiting.”

With a last squeeze, Lauren hopped back up onto the stage. This time she didn’t look back. Lauren walked right into her Dawning, knowing that everything would be taken care of whether or not she came back.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Bo watched the Dawning door close and felt her breath get pulled out of her body. She hated when Lauren was in danger and she hated that she couldn’t do anything about it. She hated that she would have no idea how it was going until it was over.

Noise erupted behind her. The volume rose slowly and then rapidly until it seemed like everyone inside of the Dal was yelling.

“Bo,” Kenzi touched her friend’s arm, “Do you want to go into Trick’s office?”

Bo shook her head. She found the nearest chair and then glared until the man in the chair moved. She sat down in the chair and watched the stage. “I’m staying here.”

=+=+=+=+=+=+

Lauren looked around the room. From what she could tell, she was standing inside of the Dal. Bo had told her about this. She looked for the little man that was around, cleaning or caretaking.

“Hello?” Lauren called.

She heard a stirring in the far corner of the Dal where Trick’s office was. Lauren took a step in that direction. Then she took another. She tried to keep her distance while trying to get the best angle to see into the room. She was being cautious. This wasn’t something to just brazenly run into.

However, whatever angle she got, she couldn’t see into the room. It was too dark. So she looked around again, “Hello?”

There was a faint chuckling. A man stepped out from behind the bar when Lauren wasn’t looking. She wondered where he came from, but she didn’t feel the need to try to defend herself. He looked harmless and friendly. He looked at her with an approachable smile. “You’re right on time.”

Lauren was confused. “I am?”

He nodded, “Like always right?”

“I suppose so,” Lauren nodded, wondered what would happen if she disagreed with him.

“I bet you already know who I am,” he reached behind the bar and got out two martini glasses. He reached behind him and picked up a shaker, scooping up some ice into it as he turned back toward Lauren.

Lauren nodded again.

“No weapons?” he asked. He was moving slowly like he wasn’t in any kind of hurry.

“No,” Lauren stated, and walked to the bar.

He shook his head and started shaking the tumbler, “You’re the third person to ever come in here without one.”

“Third?” Lauren asked.

He nodded and strained some of the martini into one of the glasses and then the rest into the other. “The first one didn’t make it out.” The man shook his head, “Shame. I understand what he was trying to do.” Then he put the tumbler down, “Then there was that nice succubus with that kamikaze wolf as her hand.”  He fumbled around with something behind the bar that Lauren couldn’t see. “And of course, there’s you.” He presented two plastic swords with olives through them. He smiled and placed them in the martinis.

Lauren looked at the wall behind him. She was looking for anything out of the ordinary. Anything that would give her a clue as to where this was going. It had been all too calm so far. She was getting antsy. She had been training for the worst case scenario and now she was just having a regular Wednesday night in the Dal. Getting her invitation was harder than that.

He pushed one of the martinis toward Lauren.

“I don’t think I should,” Lauren looked down at the glass and then back at the man. She toyed with the end of the plastic sword. “I feel like I’ll need all my mental and physical faculties for what is about to happen.”

“How do you know that?” the man asked. He gestured to the bar, “This could be it.”

She smiled and shook her head, “I highly doubt that.”

He chuckled. “You decide where this goes.”

Lauren looked around and noted all of the doors that she could walk though. She knew that she needed courage. She thought of all the brave people she knew and wondered what they would do. Finally she smiled. She picked up the martini and held it in the air. The man picked his up and they clinked glasses. Then she downed the entire thing in three gulps and ate the olive. She twired the plastic sword between her fingers before she put her hands in the pockets her of jacket and then stood.

She didn’t think about which door to go through. She just started walking and didn’t hesitate to walk right into the darkness of Trick’s office.


	13. Chapter 13

“I have five hundred that she comes out Underfae,” a voice behind Bo murmured.

“I don’t know. I heard the Ash’s doctor is brilliant. I’ll take your bet for another hundred.”

Bo tried to stop listening, but she heard bets being made all around her. A few people called Lauren a mutt. A few of them wished her death in the Dawning to teach humans a lesson. Bo was glad that Kenzi was in the back with Dyson and Hale because this atmosphere was hostile to anyone who was not Fae born.

The more she heard, the angrier she got. These Fae were treating Lauren like an animal – a racehorse to bet on.

“Whoa,” Tamsin grabbed Bo’s arm. “What are you doing?”

Bo shook her head, trying to dispel the anger that was about to make her suck the chi out of everyone in the room. Tamsin looked at Bo’s eyes, watching the haunting blue change back to the normal brown. Tamsin looked around the room and realized why Bo was about to lose her shit.

Tamsin jumped up on the bar and yelled to the crowd, “The Dal is closing for the night. Settle your tabs and get the hell out.”

There was a general mumble of descent and most of the Fae stayed in their seats. Tamsin huffed and then called, “Unless you all want to get succubus-ed, get the hell out!”

=+=+=====++===

Lauren sat up. Everything was blurry, but she did manage to make out a figure moving gracefully toward her. She didn’t even remember falling, or hitting her head.

“Nadia?” Lauren asked, not quite believe what she was seeing. She kept trying to rationalize what was happening. She was in the Dawning. Anything could happen in the Dawning. But Nadia looked so real.

Nadia smiled kindly and knelt down next to Lauren, “Hey, babe.”

Lauren felt her throat go dry. Her heart physically hurt her. It felt so real. She reached out and touched Nadia’s face. Her skin felt to warm – so alive.

Nadia leaned into the touch, pushing Lauren’s hand firmly against her skin. “C’mon. We have so many places to go.”

Lauren stood up and looked around. “Where- where are we going?”

Nadia reached back and took Lauren’s hand. She looked over her shoulder with a smile, “Just c’mon.”

Lauren tried to keep her wits about her. She tried to remember that this was a Dawning, but Nadia was so real. She just smiled back and nodded, “Let’s go.”

“You don’t really want to be a Fae anymore do you?” Nadia asked.

Lauren frowned, “What do you mean? I don’t really have a choice anymore.”

Nadia shook her head, “Never mind.” She just smiled and kept walking.

Lauren noticed that the blurry light around them had changed into an upper class cul-de-sac. The houses around them where large and beautiful. Lauren took in all the luxury cars in the driveways and all the perfect lawns leading up to perfect hedges, leading up to perfect front doors.

“Nadia where are-” Lauren stopped speaking when she saw that Nadia was gone. She blinked and looked around. Nadia had just vanished. Lauren swallowed and took a deep breath. She had to remember that this was her Dawning. It wasn’t going to make sense per se. She just needed to keep her wits about her.

Lauren looked to a street sign to hopefully get a sense of where she was, but the green sign blurred to the point where there weren’t words on it. Lauren turned to the license plates on the cars and found the same blurry phenomena. She wondered if she had suffered some sort of receptive aphasia while she started moving.

As she was searching for some semblance of something that would give her an idea as to her location, she spotted some balloons tied to a tree in one of the front yards. They were light pink and light blue, gently swaying in the breeze.

Lauren started walking toward the tree that stood out among everything else. She quickly crossed the cul-de-sac, however there didn’t seem to be a need because the neighborhood was eerily absent of vehicular traffic, or any other life forms for that matter.

When she got closer to the tree, she saw two signs posted in the front lawn. One declared ‘It’s a Boy!’ while the other ‘It’s a Girl!’. Lauren looked around and tried to figure out what kind of puzzle this was.

As she stood in the front lawn, looking at the balloons, trying to figure out if the number of balloons meant something or the ratio of blue to pink balloons, or a difference, the front door opened.

Dyson smiled widely at her, “You made it.”

Lauren looked around to make sure he was talking to her before walking closer, “Yeah, I-I did.”

Dyson opened the door wider, “Sorry that I’m not dressed yet. I just got home from the hospital.” He looked down at the blue scrubs that he was wearing. “But everyone else is in the kitchen.” He hugged her when she got close enough. Then he put his hands on her shoulders, “I can’t wait for you to see them. They’re beautiful.”

Lauren looked around bewildered. She just walked into the house and let Dyson close the door behind her. She could hear people talking and soft music playing farther back into the house. Large stairs stood directly in front of the front door with massive hallways leading on either side of it. To the left was a formal sitting room and to the right was a formal dining room.

The joy was evident on Dyson’s face. He walked to the edge of the staircase and peered around the railing through one of the hallways. Then he turned back to Lauren with a huge smile on his face, “C’mon. Bo is gonna be upset, but I want to be the first to show you.” He put his hand on his chest, “They’re so beautiful. Just like her.”

Lauren blinked again. She felt her stomach get tight. Something was really wrong here. She could just feel it.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

Lauren found herself being led into a baby’s nursery. The walls were an optimistic shade of green. Two white cribs stood side by side against sheer white curtains gently blowing in front of the open window.

Dyson walked to one of the cribs and look inside. “Oh he’s awake.”

Lauren got closer. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but all her expectations failed when she saw a beautiful baby boy, wrapped in white blankets. Lauren looked to the other crib and saw another baby, asleep next to a small pink giraffe.

“Lauren,” Dyson turned to her with the baby in his arms, “Meet Ethan.” He handed her the baby and she cradled it gently in her arms.

The noise must have wakened the other baby because she started fussing. Dyson was quick to pick her up, “And my beautiful little girl, Charlotte.”

Lauren looked up at Dyson. “Ethan and Charlotte?”

Dyson grinned, “Aren’t they perfect?” He held Charlotte in one arm so that he could touch Lauren’s shoulder, “I know you’ve been busy. Bo and I are so glad you could make it.”

“Bo?” Lauren asked, completely floored.

“You rang?” Bo’s voice floated in from the doorway.

Lauren turned around and saw Bo. She was wearing lilac colored sundress. Her hair was down around her shoulders and she smiled blissfully as she walked into the room. “Hey Dr. Lewis, I’m so glad you could come.”

“Dr. Lewis,” Lauren mouthed to herself. It was just getting more bizarre by the second.

Bo walked over and lifted Ethan from Lauren’s arms, “I see that Dyson just couldn’t contain himself.”

Dyson smile widely down at Bo and met her in the middle for a brief kiss. “You know I can’t.”

Lauren could feel her pulse start to race. She had to talk herself down from it. She knew that this wasn’t real. This wasn’t what was actually happening. But even though she knew it was all a lie, she could feel herself getting upset.

“I am going to go get some…punch,” Lauren awkwardly excused herself and slipped out the door.

Lauren shook her head as she walked down the stairs. She needed to get away from domestic goddess Bo as quickly as possible. It’s not that she didn’t love when Bo went all Martha Stewart making dinner or something. She just liked the Bo that liked to dress in dark colors and called her Lauren.

When she got downstairs she took a right and went toward where the people talking were. However when she turned into what she was sure was the kitchen, she found Hale in a dim room, sitting on a stool. There were six extremely tall glasses in front of him, all filled with a milky white liquid, occasionally cut by floating pieces of blue matter.

“Six pints of sour Lock Ness juice,” Hale huffed and looked over the glasses in front of him. “Some Dawning.”

“Hale?” Lauren called. He didn’t respond so she walked closer to him. “Hale?”

He didn’t hear her and evidently couldn’t see her as he started drinking the foul smelling juice. Lauren decided to just turn back around and walk out the same door she came in. However when she walked through this time, she found Dyson, shirtless in a room by himself. He screamed in frustration as he scratched behind his ear and then behind his other ear. Then he ran his hands all over his body.

Lauren was starting to piece together what was happening. She was reliving everyone else’s Dawnings. Lauren looked around the room for some escape other than the door behind her that would probably lead her to another Fae’s Dawning, maybe Tamsin’s.

Lauren was walking along the walls, searching from some kind of seam while Dyson flailed in the center of the room. As she moved down the cinderblock wall, she felt a shift in the room. When she turned around, she was back in the Dal and Nadia was standing in the middle of the room.

She smiled sweetly, “Are you sure you want to be Fae?”

“Why do you keep asking me that?” Lauren asked back, not moving closer to Nadia for fear of what would happen.

“Are you really part of their world?” Nadia asked, tilting her head to the side.

Lauren swallowed, “Why would you ask that?”

Nadia took a step toward Lauren, “Do they appreciate you? Or do they expect you to just be a background character in their stories?” Lauren could see the room behind Nadia start to get hazy and brighter, like it was being sucked away into a blackhole.

Lauren frowned hard. She looked Nadia in the eyes, “I’m not a background character.”

“Really?” Nadia quirked an eyebrow as she got closer to Lauren. The haze behind Nadia followed her, engulfing everything behind her.

Lauren looked from the haze to Nadia and back. Then she squared her jaw. Lauren was starting to see someone else in Nadia’s eyes. She knew it wasn’t her. She knew that someone was just using her image to get to Lauren. Lauren took a step back, “Really. Bo appreciates me. I am right where I belong. I am part of their world and I would like my _own_ Dawning. Now!”

Nadia stopped walking and her voice changed, to a dark sinister growl. Her eyes glowed green, “As you wish.”

=+=+=+=+

“You may choose a hand,” the old man told her before Lauren got her bearings. Nadia had just disappeared and in the flash a light she found herself in an old, grand house full of opulence and grandeur. Built in bookcases lined the walls all around her, filled with books.

It finally registered to Lauren that the man in the fake Dawning Dal was the one standing in front of her, dressed in a black suit. “I thought you had to do that before you came in,” Lauren was confused. She was always told the Fae rituals were ridged.

The old man smiled, “You may choose a hand now.” He gestured to one of the windows behind her. It was a large window with dark purple drapes framing it, held apart by a thick golden rope.

Lauren walked over to the window. She peered out and found herself looking into the Dal. It seemed to be in real time because her friends were gathered inside. She could see Kenzi pouring Bailey’s into her coffee at the far end of the bar. Tamsin and Hale were playing pool. Tamsin’s firearm was readily visible over the top of the back of her jeans when she bent over the table to line up her shot. Trick was sitting at one of the tables reading. Bo was seated at the bar, her hands wrapped around a martini. Dyson was sitting next to her, facing Bo.

Dyson put his hand on Bo’s back and gently rubbed in a tiny circle. Lauren felt her stomach clench. Bo gave him a small, reluctant smile and then nodded. She said something and then he said something back. Then Bo turned toward Dyson on her stool and hugged him. Lauren clinched her fists.

Lauren looked at the old man, “Only one can come out? The hand stays?”

The old man nodded. “You may choose anyone that you see.”

Lauren pulled the end of the golden rope and watched the purple drapes fall in front of the window. “I do not choose any hand.”

“As you wish,” the man nodded. He gestured to a long hallway away from the window, “If you will accompany for a short journey.”

Lauren nodded and they walked down the ornate hallway, “Are you here of your free will or are you trapped?”

The man smiled listlessly, “It is my duty to facilitate the Dawnings of every Fae.”

“So you’re trapped,” Lauren put her hands in her pockets.

He nodded, “So to speak.”

“Have you ever thought about leaving?” Lauren asked, watching a series of doors pass by.

The man looked puzzled, but then answered, “I have thought about it, but this is my job.”

“Why can’t you keep the job and leave?” Lauren jammed her hands into her jacket pockets. She winced and recoiled her right hand. She looked at her hand and saw that her finger was bleeding from a small prick. She gingerly put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the small plastic sword from the martini she had with this same man earlier.

“The job comes with caretaking,” he said kindly, “Don’t worry about me, dear.”

“I’ve just realized during all this that everyone deserves to live their own life,” Lauren offered, “I just hope you’re living yours.”

He stopped walking and looked at her, studying her. Then he smiled. When he turned forward again, they were face to face with a door that wasn’t there. “Here we are.”

“Thank you,” Lauren touched the man’s shoulder and then opened the door.


	14. Chapter 14

Bo took another drink of her second martini. “Why isn’t she out yet?”

“The time out here doesn’t sync up with the time in the Dawning. She could have been in there for, what she thinks, is five minutes or a week,” Trick explained patiently. He could see that his granddaughter was extremely worried and irritable.

Bo looked at the stage for what seemed like the millionth time wishing that Lauren, her Lauren, would walked out in one piece.

=+=+=+=+=+=

Again, Lauren didn’t remember falling, but her left wrist hurt and there was a hole in the left knee of her jeans. She looked up and saw that she was in some sort of wooden structure. There were columns and beams all around her, some of which looked like they were about to fall down.

She didn’t remember where she was or why she was there. She tried to remember how she arrived here, but couldn’t. The last thing she remembered was being forced to work to turn some Kelpie’s human boyfriend into a Fae. Lauren stood and dusted herself off. She needed to find a way out and find Kenzi to make sure she was okay.

As she was walking through the dusty corridors, she could hear yelling. “We have your friends, Doctor. Come out, come out wherever you are.” It was the Kelpie’s boyfriend.

Lauren paused and wondered what they meant by her friends. She hoped Bo hadn’t gotten mixed up in everything. Lauren knew she couldn’t just leave her friends, whoever they were. Lauren followed the sound of the taunting. She had to duck under a few broken beams, but managed to make it to an opening where light poured in.

She stepped out against the light and found herself in a warehouse. She looked around, confused as to how her surroundings changed so quickly.

She walked into an opened what was sort of an arena. There were empty stands all the way around her, yet there they looked to just be set down in the warehouse. There were crates places sporadically against the walls of the area and some blue chemical barrels.

“Welcome Doctor,” the Kelpie looked down at her from the top of the stands. Lauren could see the old glass behind her was being pelted with heavy raindrops. Lauren wanted to take in more of the arena so that she knew what she was in for. However, what Lauren saw across the arena made her gasp. Bo, Kenzi, and Dyson were all tied to large wooden posts. Lauren took off running toward them, “What happened?”

“Lauren stop!” Bo yelled, “It’s a trap!”

Lauren slowed down and then stopped in the middle of the arena, “What do you mean?”

“You better listen to your girlfriend,” the Kelpie paced in front of the windows.

“They kidnapped us and tied us up here to get to you,” Bo wriggled in her bondage. “They put this stupid crystal around our neck so we can’t use our powers.”

Lauren’s eyes lowered to a purple crystal hanging from a thin twine necklace placed on each of them. Lauren looked up at where the Kelpie was. There was no way she could get down fast enough to stop her so Lauren made a break for Bo.

“Lauren, just get out of here,” Bo pleaded with Lauren.

Lauren moved around the post behind Bo, “Not without you guys.” She saw the knot holding Bo in and started to pull at it when she heard some rumblings. When Lauren peered around the pole Bo was tied to, she saw a massive creature step though the doorway she had come though, except his massive frame destroyed the pathway.

With a mighty roar, the large humanoid drug a long, skinny spiked club with claw like hands, as its massive feet shuffled toward them. The creature had red skin and sharp, exposed teeth. A wild black mane framed even wilder eyes.

“It’s an Oni,” Lauren breathed and tried to untie Bo faster.

“What does that mean?” Bo asked.

Trying to untie Bo wasn’t working so Lauren ran around the front of Bo and yanked the twine necklace off of her. “It’s strong, but slow. However, they’ve been known to swallow people whole.”

Lauren ran over to Dyson and pulled the crystal off of him. Dyson wolfed out enough to burst through his ropes and claw out Bo. Lauren ran to Kenzi and tried to untie her as quickly as she could.

Dyson ran to the Oni, trying to distract it as Bo got out of her ropes and Lauren untied Kenzi. Lauren kept an eye on the Oni and another on the Kelpie. The Kelpie was all too happy watching Dyson go around with the Oni to pay attention to her.

Lauren loosened Kenzi’s bonds enough for Kenzi to wriggle out.

Dyson barely missed being broadsided with the spiked club. He howled and jumped for the Oni’s head. He sunk his claws into the sides of the Oni’s neck before being batted to the side.

“Hey!” Bo called, distracting the Oni from advancing on Dyson who was struggling to get back up, “Pick on someone….your own size?” Bo flinched, “Like a whale or something.”

The Oni started stomping toward Bo who looked unsure of what to do. All she could do was dodge the punches, swipes, and swings of the Oni, buying time for Dyson to regroup or Lauren to let her in on the Oni’s secret weakness.

When Lauren was looking around the arena for some kind of weapon, she saw a cache of chemical barrels on the lowest level of the spectators’ stands. On the label, Lauren saw a ‘W’ with a line through it. Then her eyes darted to the rain beating against the old windows.

“Kenzi,” Lauren called as she took off running, “C’mon.”

Kenzi followed without question, climbing up the crates after Lauren to the lowest level of the stands. They ran to the barrels and Lauren started pushing on the barrels. Kenzi lowered her shoulder and pushed alongside Lauren. “What is this stuff?”

“I’m not sure,” Lauren replied as the front barrel fell and spilled into the area, “But if it’s labeled properly, it’ll get us out of here.”

With a few more heaves, the rest of the barrels tipped over and spilled into a large puddle on the side of the arena.

Lauren looked to the Oni and saw him swipe Dyson across the stomach. The wound was deep and sent Dyson flying across the area. Bo was just rising to her feet from some kind of encounter with the Oni.

“Go get Dyson out of here,” Lauren told Kenzi. Kenzi nodded and ran around the level of the stands before jumping back down into the area next to Dyson.

Lauren looked around and found a lid to one of the chemical barrels. She threw it as hard as she could at the Oni and struck one of his eyes. It grunted and turned it’s attention to her.

“Lauren! What are you doing?!” Bo yelled.

“Get Dyson out of here!” Lauren yelled back and started running up the stairs in the stands toward the Kelpie who had become enraged with the failure of the Oni to rip apart her captives. “I have a plan!”

Bo looked up at Lauren, running up the stairs from the advancing Oni. Then she looked over at Dyson who was leaning heavily on Kenzi, bleeding heavily and limping. Bo ran to Dyson and Kenzi to help them get out.

Lauren stopped to push over a barrel of chemicals at the advancing Oni. It splashed on the stairs and the barrel rolled down the stands right into the Oni who crushed it as he stepped on it.

When Lauren reached the top of the bleachers, the Kelpie made a grab for her. Lauren lowered her shoulder and plowed into the Kelpie. The Kelpie stopped her momentum more that Lauren had hoped and they both stopped at the edge of the top platform next to the windows.

Lauren felt herself being picked up, off of the Kelpie who scrambled away when she was free. Although she summoned it, the Kelpie was terrified of the Oni.

The Oni slammed Lauren against the wall next to the bank of windows. Lauren felt the life being forced out of her through her mouth. The monster was pushing the air out of her body and crushing her ribs. She felt the world slipping away. Everything she was fighting for flickers and fades out of her brain. She couldn’t remember anything. She couldn’t think of anything. She couldn’t move.

With a sudden moment of clarity, Lauren reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the tiny plastic sword from her pocket that she got from the keeper of the Dawning. She thrust it into the monster’s eye closest to her hand.

Lauren was dropped to her feet. Her knees buckled from the impact and the fell onto them. The monster shrieked and sputtered, flailing around trying to use his large fingers to get out the tiny sword that had pierced his eye. It took one too many steps back and slipped, tumbling down the stairs.

Lauren looked down into the arena. Bo, Dyson, and Kenzi had gotten out. She whirled around and aimed for a weak looking bank of windows. She jumped head first off the top row of bleachers with hopefully enough momentum to get through the windows.

As her feet left the ground, she ducked her head and put her arms above her. The second she broke the glass, the rain started pouring into the arena. Almost immediately the water met the chemical all over the arena stands behind her and the pool on the arena floor, a massive flash of light engulfed everything it could touch. The explosions started at the top of the arena stairs, chain reacting all the way down before magnifying exponentially at the area floor.

Lauren squeezed her eyes shut as the blast propelled her out of the windows.

A rumbling shook the Dal and everyone’s attention was projected at the stage. The doorway flickered and opened. There was a flash of fire and glass raining out onto the ground. A huge blast of light temporarily blinded everyone until the door closed.

Tamsin blindly drew her gun and pointed it into the light.

Glass clinked against glass as Lauren rolled over, dumping the large quantity of glass off of her back and onto the ground. She pulled herself up and was the first person to realize what was going on.

Kenzi was next, “Lauren!” She ran through the glass to help Lauren up.

Tamsin and Bo were next, running over to Lauren through the shotgun blast of glass that covered at least half of the Dal. Tamsin put her gun back into the back of her pants and grabbed Lauren’s arm to help her up.

Bo didn’t realize how upset she actually was until her arms were around Lauren. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“I’m glad you’re okay too,” Lauren closed her eyes and held Bo tightly. She opened her eyes and saw Kenzi standing next to them. She grabbed Kenzi’s shirt and pulled her into a large hug, “I’m glad you’re okay too Kenzi.”

“We aren’t the ones that were shot out of glass cannons,” Kenzi commented, but quietly glad that Lauren was okay and out of her Dawning.

Lauren loosened her grip on Bo and Kenzi to look around. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Trick smiled, walking up to the bar. He dug around behind the bar before standing up with a bottle of champagne. “You just made it out of your Dawning in one piece.” He popped open the champagne and everyone cheered.

Bo looked Lauren over. She saw some blood, but nothing huge. All in all, Lauren looked fine. Bo planted her hands on Lauren’s cheeks and pulled her in for a deep, deep kiss. Lauren’s hands moved to Bo’s wrists and she gently wrapped her fingers around them. She didn’t want to do anything else. She just loved touching Bo’s skin.

“Get a room,” Hale called playfully.

Lauren laughed, breaking the kiss. Bo could have kept going, but she knew that other people wanted to see Lauren.

Lauren hugged Hale and then Dyson. The hug with Dyson was tense because of the Dawning that Lauren had just gone through even though Lauren knew that wasn’t really Dyson kissing Bo and making babies with her.

Then Lauren accepted a glass of champagne from Trick. Lauren sat on a stool and Bo leaned on her, between her legs, not wanting to be far from Lauren. Kenzi sat on the bar close to them. Trick and Tamsin stood on the other side of the bar and Dyson and Hale sat in the stools on either side of Lauren.

“So?” Bo asked, dying to know, “How’d it go?”

“It went great,” Lauren couldn’t stop smiling. She had made it out of her Dawning alive.

“What happened?” Kenzi asked. Truth be told, she was a little hesitant taking Lauren up on her offer to make her a Fae, “I want all the details.”

Lauren wasn’t sure she wanted to recount exactly what happened. She took a sip of her champagne, “When I first walked in it was the Dal. The keeper was there and gave me a drink. I saw Nadia.” Saying that made Lauren feel a little sick. The Dawning had used her dead girlfriend to move her around. She felt Bo’s hand on her. Lauren nodded that she was okay and looked back up at the group, “She was my guide I guess. Then after reliving, Bo’s Dawning, then Hale’s Dawning, and Dyson’s Dawning, I finally got my own.”

Hale cringed, “I don’t even like to relive my Dawning.” He shuttered and Lauren chuckled.

Dyson smiled good-naturedly, “So you saw the most embarrassing day of my life?”

Lauren smiled, “I did.”

“Wait what was it?” Kenzi asked.

Lauren looked up at Dyson. He grinned and put his arm around Kenzi, “It was nothing.”

Then Lauren told them about the arena and the Oni. She told them about the chemicals and the violent reaction she knew it would produce if she mixed it with water.

Kenzi smirked and playfully elbowed Bo, “Huh what do you know? She can science someone to death.”

Bo smiled and looked at Lauren who was looking adoringly back, “I never doubted it.” She dipped her head down and kissed Lauren deeply, so glad that Lauren was back and that Lauren was okay.

They drank and told Dawning stories for a few hours before everyone was ready to go. Lauren offered to help Trick clean up the mess that she made, but he told her not to worry about it. “You should get some rest. It’s been a long day.” He patted her back.

She nodded and looked through the empty Dal. It had been a long day. It had been a long few days and now it was over. She could relax.

Bo stepped up behind her and took her hand, slipping her fingers between Lauren’s, “Are you ready?”

Lauren nodded. She smiled when she caught Bo staring at her. She kissed Bo, surprising the succubus, but pleasing her nonetheless.

When they stepped outside, there was a small group of sporting Fae waiting to see how Lauren came out. A few of them cheered when they saw her in one piece and a few of them grumbled in disappointment. All of them ran away when Tamsin used her gun to shoot at the ground near their feet.

Tamsin tucked the gun back into the back of her pants and looked over at Lauren. Tamsin smirked and shot Lauren a wink. Lauren nodded gratefully before Tamsin disappeared into the night.

Trick and Hale left, leaving Dyson with the ladies. He hopped on his motorcycle, watching the women walk to Bo’s car.

Lauren stopped by Dyson and hugged him, “Thank you for all your help.”

“No problem,” he smiled. He reached into his jacket breast pocket and pulled out a piece of silver jewelry. He handed it to Lauren, “I don’t know what you want to do with it, but I found it at the gym.”

Lauren looked down at the pendant on a chain. It was the one that said she was owned by the Light. It stood for so much oppression and anger that she used to have. If the Dawning had done nothing else for her, it helped her let go. Lauren’s hand glowed red and everyone watched the pendant melt in her hand. Lauren had to admit that she surprised herself, but she definitely came out of the Dawning stronger than she was before.

Lauren tilted her hand and watched the liquid silver slide off of her hand, onto the street, and down the storm drain. Then she smiled at Dyson, “Thanks.”

He chuckled and nodded, starting up his motorcycle. Kenzi hopped onto the back of the motorcycle, “We’re going to a rave downtown.” She explained.

Bo knew that Kenzi was just giving her and Lauren some alone time. Bo mouthed ‘thank you’ to Kenzi who in return made an obscene gesture indicating something that Bo and Lauren may be doing later. Bo punched her shoulder as Dyson took off.

Bo and Lauren got into Bo’s car. “Where to?” Bo asked, starting her car. She turned to Lauren who was examining the holes in her clothes.

Lauren looked up at Bo and saw the loving adoration that Bo always made her feel. She smiled, “Let’s go home.”

Bo took Lauren’s hand and threaded her fingers with Lauren’s, “Home it is.”

\--------

The End


End file.
